BREAKING NEWS

Ukrainian president: Ukraine is ready for grain shipments, awaits signal to start

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday his country is ready to start grain shipments from Black sea ports and is awaiting a signal from the United Nations and Turkey to start the shipments.

Zelensky's office said the president had visited the Black Sea port of Chornomorsk, which has been blockaded by Russia, to see preparations for the shipments under a UN-brokered agreement signed in Turkey last week.

"Our side is fully prepared. We sent all the signals to our partners - the UN and Turkey, and our military guarantees the security situation," it quoted him as saying.

"The infrastructure minister is in direct contact with the Turkish side and the UN We are waiting for a signal from them that we can start."