Zelensky and Macron Discuss Ways to Restore Grain Export Routes

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron discussed ways to export grain amid threats from Russia.

According to major foreign media on the 3rd (local time), the two leaders had a phone call to discuss such measures a day before the summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdo?an.

President Zelensky said on social media that he spoke with President Macron and "discussed ways to ensure the operation of grain export routes and strengthen security in the southern Odesa region."

President Zelensky also expressed gratitude for France's significant military support and added that they exchanged views on an additional support package.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (right) and French President Emmanuel Macron shake hands ahead of talks at the NATO summit held in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 12.
[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

The call took place a day before the summit arranged to restore the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which Russia terminated in July, and to mediate the war between Russia and Ukraine. The summit will be held on the 4th in Sochi, a southern Russian resort city.

During the war, Ukraine and Russia signed the Black Sea Grain Initiative last July under the mediation of T?rkiye and the United Nations to lift the Black Sea blockade and allow the export of agricultural products from both countries. However, Russia terminated the agreement, claiming its related conditions were not being met, and has been intensively bombing the Odesa region, where Ukraine's main ports are located.

On the same day, Russia launched an airstrike on the Danube River port near the Romanian border in the Odesa region using 25 suicide drones. Since Russia's termination of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Ukraine has been using the Danube River as an alternative transport route for grain exports instead of the Black Sea.

Additionally, Ukraine opened a humanitarian corridor last month to allow ships stranded at its ports to evacuate, and so far, four civilian vessels have exited the Black Sea through this route.