BEIJING, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- The following are the latest developments in the Ukraine crisis:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met visiting UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Thursday to discuss grain exports from Ukraine and the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the presidential press service reported.
At the meeting in Ukraine's western city of Lviv, Zelensky hailed the UN's positive role in resuming grain exports from Ukraine and stressed Kiev's readiness to guarantee global food security.
Zelensky and Guterres agreed to continue the coordination on the grain initiative implementation and emphasized the importance of increasing the number of vessels exporting foodstuffs from Ukraine.
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Zelensky held a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday in Kiev, during which the two sides talked about cooperation and grain exports from Ukraine, Zelensky's press service reported.
The parties discussed all-round bilateral cooperation, including the partnership in the defense sector.
The two presidents also assessed the implementation of the initiative on grain exports from Ukraine and agreed that it is helping to overcome the global food crisis.
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Russian Defense Ministry Spokesperson Igor Konashenkov on Thursday accused Ukraine of preparing a provocation at the Zaporizhzhia power plant during the visit of Guterres to the country.
Konashenkov said Ukrainian troops were planning to launch artillery strikes on the plant's territory, noting that Russia would further be blamed for creating a man-made disaster at the plant.
Russian troops have no heavy weapons on the territory of the plant or in areas near the facility, and the country's armed forces are taking all necessary measures to ensure its security, he added.
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Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Thursday that the chief of UN nuclear watchdog IAEA is expected to lead a delegation to visit the Zaporizhzhia plant.
"In our call, IAEA (the International Atomic Energy Agency) Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi informed me that, responding to Ukraine's invitation, he is ready to lead an IAEA delegation to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant," Kuleba said on Twitter.
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The Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday that it had redeployed three MiG-31I fighters carrying Kinzhal hypersonic missiles to the Chkalovsk airbase in the country's Kaliningrad region as part of additional strategic deterrence measures.
The fighters will be on round-the-clock combat duty, it added. ■
