WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th August, 2022) The United States will provide the United Nations with more than $68 million to purchase and store up to 150,000 metric tons of Ukrainian wheat, US Agency for International Development Administrator Samantha Power said.
"I am pleased to share that the United States, through the US Agency for International Development, is providing over $68 million in additional funding to the UN World Food Program (WFP) to purchase, move, and store up to 150,000 metric tons of Ukrainian wheat to help respond to the global food crisis," Power said in a statement on Tuesday.
Power said this will help feed people in countries facing severe malnutrition, but much more is needed to address the current global food crisis.
Earlier on Tuesday, United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will visit the Joint Coordination Center (JCC) in Istanbul on Saturday. The JCC is in charge of overseeing the shipments of Ukrainian grain via the country's Black Sea ports.
Guterres is expected to meet with Russian, Ukrainian and Turkish representatives at the JCC, Dujarric said.
On July 22, Russia, Ukraine, and Turkey signed an United Nations-brokered initiative to provide a humanitarian maritime corridor for ships with food and fertilizer exports from Black Sea ports. Three key Ukrainian ports - Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Yuzhne - resumed grain exports and the JCC was set up to monitor the implementation of the initiative, including ensuring that cargo ships do not carry unauthorized goods or personnel.
