France ready to take part in unblocking Odesa port

The Elysee Palace states that France is ready to take part in the operation to unblock the port of Odesa to ensure the export of Ukrainian grain to countries that need it.

"We are ready to help the parties conduct an operation that would allow for completely safe access to the port of Odesa for ships, despite the fact that the sea is mined," BFMTV reports citing an adviser to the President of France, Ukrinform reports.

At the same time, commenting on Macron’s plea "not to humiliate Russia", his adviser stressed that France wants Ukraine to win the war unleashed by Russia.

"As the president said, we want Ukraine to win. We want Ukraine's territorial integrity to be restored. We want this conflict, this war of Russia against Ukraine, to end as soon as possible," the TV channel quotes a representative of the Elysee Palace as saying.

As reported, the Russian aggression blocked more than 20 million tonnes of grain intended for export in the ports of Ukraine. This has posed a threat of global hunger, as almost half of all supplies under the UN World Food Programme account for Ukrainian grain.

On June 3, President of France Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with French media that Putin had committed a historic and fundamental error by invading Ukraine. At the same time, according to Macron, it is vital that Russia is not humiliated so that when the fighting stops in Ukraine a diplomatic solution can be found.

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