Putin, Guterres discuss grain exports over phone

Russian President Vladimir Putin and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres discussed issues of grain exports over a telephone conversation, the Kremlin said in a statement.

"The main attention is given to the implementation of the Istanbul package agreements on the export of Ukrainian grain from the Black Sea ports, as well as the export of Russian food and fertilisers," the statement said on Wednesday, confirming both sides' mutual position on ensuring the needs of countries in Africa, the Middle East and Latin America as a priority.

During the phone call, the UN chief informed in detail about the measures taken by the Secretariat and the specialised UN agencies on removing all obstacles for pushing the supplies of Russian agricultural products and fertilisers to world markets, expressing his full commitment to solving this issue, Xinhua news agency reported.

According to the statement, both sides also discussed the situation around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in the context of the visit by the International Atomic Energy Agency on September 1.