ANKARA, June 20 (Xinhua) -- Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday discussed grain exports from Ukraine's ports over the phone.
Erdogan told the UN chief that Turkey continues the joint efforts for the "export of Ukrainian grains via the Black Sea, which will be a factor in preventing the food crisis," Erdogan's office said in a statement.
Ukraine is a major grain exporter to Africa and the Middle East. As the Russia-Ukraine conflict drags on, disruption to the shipments is pushing prices higher, fuelling an international shortage of food.
Turkey is seeking to broker a grain corridor from Ukraine across the Black Sea as part of an UN-backed effort to avert a food crisis. The United Nations had already appealed to Russia and Ukraine to agree to a maritime corridor. ■