Activities of Secretary-General in Türkiye, with Stopover in Republic of Moldova, 19-20 August

On Friday, 19 August, the Secretary-General travelled from Odesa to Chisinau, the capital of the Republic of Moldova, where he met the President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, for a working dinner during which they reviewed the situation in  Moldova and the region in light of the on-going war in Ukraine.

On Saturday, the Secretary-General flew to Istanbul to visit the Joint Coordination Centre for the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

Boarding a pilot ship in Istanbul port in the Sea of Marmara, he was also able to see the World Food Programme (WFP) ship Brave Commander, which was about to sail to Djibouti, and boarded the vessel SSI Invincible II, which was about to depart for Chornomorsk in Ukraine to load close to 50,000 tons of grain — the largest shipment to leave Ukraine since the start of the war.

Joined by the Turkish Minister for Defence, Hulusi Akar, the Secretary-General toured the Joint Coordination Centre.  He met the Russian and Ukrainian delegations to the Joint Coordination Centre separately, and then for an official session of the Centre where he thanked all of the participants for their professionalism and humanity in ensuring that this initiative is a success for people around the world.

He also had a press conference with the Defence Minister.

He returned to New York later on Saturday night.