'Grain corridor' needs reliable and long-term protection - Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said this in a new video address, Ukrinform reports.

"These days, the movement of ships with Ukrainian agricultural products has continued, primarily thanks to the principles of the partners, namely the UN and Turkey, which do not accept Russian efforts to destroy the grain agreement. But the grain corridor needs reliable and long-term protection. Russia should clearly know that it will receive a tough response from the world to any steps that disrupt our food exports. This is literally a matter of life for tens of millions of people," he said.

Zelensky said that he spoke today with the Prime Minister of Cambodia about the importance of continuing the grain initiative.

"This country now holds the presidency of ASEAN, one of the most powerful world associations. That's more than 600 million people in ten countries. And for each of these countries, the food crisis is a real threat to national security. If food prices rise due to Russian aggression, if there is a deficit in the food market, this will inevitably lead to catastrophic consequences in most ASEAN countries, as well as in other regions of the world. Therefore, pressure on Russia for the sake of guarantees of food security is now needed from everyone - and from Asian countries as well. We work for this," Zelensky said.

Three vessels, carrying almost 85,000 tonnes of corn, wheat and sunflower cake, on Tuesday left Ukrainian ports through the "grain corridor" and are heading for Germany, Libya and Morocco.