‘Ray of hope’ seen in talks to get grain out of Ukraine

BRUSSELS — Russian and Ukrainian negotiators met Wednesday in an increasingly desperate effort to release huge stores of grain blocked by Russian warships, yielding what U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres called “a ray of hope” but no formal agreement that could alleviate rising world hunger.

Wednesday’s meeting, held in Istanbul with U.N. representatives and military officials from Russia, Ukraine and Turkey, had raised hopes for a breakthrough. It ended with progress, Guterres said, but no comprehensive deal.

“This was a first meeting, the progress was extremely encouraging. We hope that the next steps will allow us to come to a formal agreement,” Guterres said in New York after the meeting ended.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told the Associated Press that any agreement to get food out of the country needs to ensure Russia “will respect these corridors, (that) they will not sneak into the harbor and attack ports or that they will not attack ports from the air with their missiles.”

Kuleba also said Ukraine’s military is “planning and preparing for full liberation” of Russian-occupied cities and towns near the country’s Black Sea coast. Ukrainian forces already have stepped up their activity to retake territory in the south as Russia concentrates on eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine’s military also began to punch back in the east Wednesday, striking bases and ammunition depots deep within Russianoccupied territory with the help of new, more powerful weapons provided by the West.

Early Wednesday, a fireball lit up the sky over Luhansk, the capital of a Russian-held province in eastern Ukraine. Russian media reported that Ukraine’s military had hit an anti-aircraft battery.