London, June 16 (Agency) UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, during a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, expressed hope for progress on the issue of Ukrainian grain exports, the Prime Minister’s office said in a statement. “The Prime Minister said he hoped progress on the issue could be made in the coming days,” according to the statement.Earlier, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said that the UN-proposed mechanism to resolve the “grain problem” is acceptable, and that Turkey outlined its position to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov during his visit to Ankara.
The UN has repeatedly stated the threat of a food crisis due to a shortage of grain; the West has accused Russia of opposing the supply of Ukrainian grain to world markets. Moscow has rejected such accusations. The Kiev authorities themselves created many obstacles to grain exportation: setting on fire grain in the Mariupol port, as well as the mining of the Black Sea, which does not allow grain to be transported to world markets by ships.Russian President Vladimir Putin has said there are no problems with the export of grain from Ukraine and Russia does not hinder that. If Ukraine clears the ports of mines, ships with grain will be able to leave without any problems, he has said.