UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is on his way to Kyiv to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky, a UN spokesman said Tuesday. Zelensky said earlier in the day that the Ukrainian military would be sending reinforcements to the besieged city of Bakhmut, belying earlier reports that Ukrainian forces might be preparing a retreat. Follow our live blog for the latest updates on the war in Ukraine. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).
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13:48: Guterres to meet Zelensky for talks on grain shipments, ‘pertinent’ issues
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is traveling to Ukraine on Tuesday to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky, his third trip since Russia’s invasion, his spokesman said.
“The secretary-general has just arrived in Poland on his way to Ukraine,” spokesman Stephane Dujarric said in a statement, adding that discussions will include extending a deal with Moscow that allows the export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea as well as “other pertinent issues”.
The 120-day deal, initially brokered in July by the United Nations and Turkey and extended in November, will be renewed on March 18 if no party objects.
Russia has signalled that obstacles to its own agricultural exports need to be removed before it agrees to let the Black Sea grain deal continue. To help convince Russia to allow Ukraine to resume Black Sea grain exports back in July, a three-year deal was also struck in which the United Nations agreed to help facilitate Russian food and fertiliser exports.
Ukraine and Russia are both major global suppliers of grains and fertilisers.
12:52pm: Poland says it will send 10 more Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine this week
Poland will send 10 additional Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine this week, the Polish defence minister said on Tuesday.
“Four [tanks] are already in Ukraine, another 10 will go to Ukraine this week,” Mariusz Blaszczak told a news conference.
Poland has promised…
