Zelensky requests the convening of the NATO-Ukraine Council to discuss security in the Black Sea

said the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky It is a request to convene the “NATO-Ukraine Council” to discuss the security situation in the Black Sea, especially the operation of the Ukrainian grain export corridor, during a phone call with the Secretary General of the military alliance, Jens Stoltenberg.

Zelensky made it clear in his videotaped night speech that he had requested during the phone call with Stoltenberg that the council, which was established during the NATO summit this month, convene.

“We have moved to a new, more advanced level in our cooperation, which is the NATO-Ukraine Council, and this mechanism can have an impact,” Zelensky added.

“I suggested to Jens that the council convene without delay for consultations on the crisis. The meeting will take place in the coming days. We can overcome the security crisis in the Black Sea,” he added.

While there is no indication so far of NATO’s approval of the proposal.

Cereal price hike

On Friday, United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths said that the sharp rise in grain prices following Russia’s withdrawal from the Ukrainian grain export agreement across the Black Sea “potentially threatens millions of people with hunger and worse.”

Russia withdrew last week from the UN-backed agreement to export grain across the Black Sea, saying Western countries had ignored its demands to remove obstacles to its food and fertilizer exports.

Russia said ships bound for Ukraine’s Black Sea ports could be considered military targets.