PRESS RELEASE : President of Ukraine, the President of Türkiye and the UN Secretary-General held a trilateral meeting in Lviv

The press release issued by the President of Ukraine on 18 August 2022.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of the Republic of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and UN Secretary-General António Guterres during a tripartite meeting in Lviv discussed the grain export initiative, Russia’s dangerous actions around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the issue of protection and liberation of Ukrainian prisoners of war and the establishment of a Special Tribunal on the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Greeting the distinguished guests, Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted that he appreciates their presence in our country and efforts to restore the international legal order, which was destroyed by Russian aggression against our state onoging for 176 days already.

“I am grateful for the strong and unwavering support for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine from both the Secretary-General and the President,” said the Head of State during a meeting with media representatives following the tripartite negotiations in Lviv.

As Volodymyr Zelenskyy noted, today’s negotiations can open up significant prospects. In particular, the parties discussed the grain export initiative, which was launched thanks to joint efforts and which helps overcome the global food crisis.

“We outlined possible directions for the further development of the initiative – its improvement, increasing the level of security of its implementation. This is a global need – to increase the number of ships that safely export Ukrainian food. Our state is ready to be and will be the guarantor of global food security,” the President of Ukraine emphasized.

According to him, the distinguished guests, just as Ukrainians, condemn Russia’s theft of food in the temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine and emphasize the inadmissibility of any trade in stolen Ukrainian grain.

“We discussed in detail the nuclear blackmail of Russia around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Nuclear security is an absolute priority for everyone in the world, new challenges, and Russia must immediately and without any conditions withdraw its troops from the territory of the ZNPP, stop all provocations, all shelling. It is unacceptable that Russia is deliberately putting all of us on the brink of a global radiation disaster,” the President of Ukraine said.

As Volodymyr Zelenskyy informed, the parameters of a possible IAEA mission to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant were agreed with the UN Secretary-General – in a legal way through the territory free from the occupiers.

“Nuclear blackmail of Russia should definitely be a decisive argument for everyone who still doubted that Russia deserves official recognition as a terrorist state and the corresponding political and legal attitude,” he emphasized.

In addition, the interlocutors paid considerable attention to the issue of protection and liberation of Ukrainian prisoners of war held by Russia. The President of Ukraine called on António Guterres to take all possible measures and involve all UN mechanisms to return Ukrainians home.

“We agreed with Mr. Secretary-General on the need to send a fact-finding mission to Olenivka as soon as possible, where Russia committed one of the most heinous terrorist attacks against Ukrainians. And I emphasize: all international organizations must do everything in order to gain access to the places of detention of Ukrainian citizens, in particular, this applies to the so-called filtration camps,” said the President and expressed his belief that the international community has the power to force Russia to comply with the relevant conventions.

The parties also discussed the establishment of a Special Tribunal on the crime of Russian aggression against Ukraine.

“I am convinced that without these instruments it will not be possible to restore the international legal order after this war and to protect international law from the encroachments of other potential terrorist states,” emphasized Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

He added that the President of Türkiye noted today that the food export initiative creates a diplomatic window for an agreement on the future end of the war between Ukraine and Russia.

“For my part, I told the President of Türkiye that there is no trust in the Russian Federation. I believe that there are Russian weapons in this window, and therefore I am very surprised that they are ready for some kind of peace. The one who rapes, hits our cities and civilian infrastructure with cruise missiles every day cannot strive for peace. So, it seems to me, they should leave our territories first, and then we will see,” Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

President of the Republic of Türkiye Recep Tayyip Erdoğan noted the importance of strengthening diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

He emphasized Türkiye’s unquestionable support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine and expressed his condolences over casualties as a result of the missile attack on Kharkiv yesterday.

In addition, the leader of Türkiye expressed concern about the situation around the Zaporizhzhia NPP and emphasized the inadmissibility of repeating a tragedy similar to the accident at the Chornobyl nuclear power plant.

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan noted the importance of the results of the agreements, which made it possible to unblock the export of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, and emphasized that during today’s tripartite meeting, “the possibility of converting the positive atmosphere created by the agreements in Istanbul into a stable peace” was discussed.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres called the grain initiative signed in Istanbul an important document, the purpose of which is to help extremely vulnerable people from all corners of the world. He called on all parties to continue to take all measures to continue the implementation of this initiative.

António Guterres also emphasized that Russia’s invasion is a violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity and the UN Charter.

“This war has already led to a huge number of victims, to huge destruction, to the emergence of an internally displaced population. It is also accompanied by a significant violation of human rights. People need peace. Peace in accordance with the UN Charter and international law,” he said.

In addition, the Secretary-General of the United Nations expressed extreme concern about the situation around the Zaporizhzhia NPP, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.

He urged to refrain from any actions that could endanger the physical integrity and safety of the NPP, and stressed that its facilities should not be used during any military operations.

“It is necessary to ensure the withdrawal of equipment and personnel from the territory of the nuclear power plant. This territory must be demilitarized,” António Guterres is convinced.

The UN Secretary-General called the events that took place on July 29 in the occupied Olenivka in Donbas, where captive Ukrainian defenders were held, unacceptable.

As António Guterres reported, a decision was made to organize a mission to establish the facts and events in Olenivka. He emphasized that this mission should be able to find out all the facts and collect data.

“All prisoners of war receive protection in accordance with the norms of international humanitarian law. The International Committee of the Red Cross must gain access to prisoners of war, no matter where they are held,” the UN Secretary-General concluded.