United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has arrived in Kyiv. He came to discuss the grain initiative, the UN spokesperson tweeted.
“Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is in Kyiv. Later today, he will meet Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv to discuss the continuation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative in all its aspects, as well as other pertinent issues,” the message reads.
Secretary-General @antonioguterres is in Kyiv. Later today, he will meet @ZelenskyyUa in Kyiv to discuss the continuation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative in all its aspects, as well as other pertinent issues.
— UN Spokesperson (@UN_Spokesperson) March 8, 2023
This is Guterres' third visit to Ukraine in a year. In the summer of 2022, he mediated a grain deal that helped unblock the export of Ukrainian grain from the ports of Odesa Region. The parties to the agreement were Ukraine-Turkey-UN and Turkey-Russia-UN.
On 17 November, the grain initiative was extended for another 120 days, but Russia is deliberately hindering the inspection of ships in the Bosphorus.