UN: Freedom of Navigation in the Black Sea is Crucial to Global Food Security

An agreement on freedom of navigation in the Black Sea to ensure the protection of civilian vessels and port infrastructure "will be a crucial contribution to global food security and supply chains," U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Wednesday.

The United States announced separate agreements with Ukraine and Russia on Tuesday to pause their strikes in the Black Sea and against each other's energy targets, but the rhetoric from Moscow and Kyiv suggested they remained far apart.

The United Nations has been working consistently on the issue, Dujarric said, especially since U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote to the leaders of Ukraine, Russia and Turkey in February last year to put "forward a proposal for safe and free navigation in the Black Sea."

(Reuters)