French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday called on Russia to agree on a solution at the UN to unblock Ukrainian grain exports and ease an emerging global food crisis, writes The National News
Mr Macron said at the end of a two-day European summit in Brussels that he and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz had proposed such a solution for the port of Odesa to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Mr Macron said any deal with Russia at the UN would require guarantees for Ukraine that Moscow’s troops would not exploit a gap in coastal defences created by the opening of food corridors.
The talks on food security came after the European Union agreed to ban the majority of Russian oil imports, a breakthrough in its efforts to deprive the Kremlin of funding during its onslaught on Ukraine.
The overnight deal in Brussels will ban oil shipments by sea but leave pipelines open, a concession to the main holdout Hungary.
