Kallas: EU is working with Turkey, India and other countries to promote a Black Sea freedom of navigation agreement

According to a speech text delivered Tuesday at the European Parliament in Strasbourg, EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas said the EU is working with international partners, including Turkey, India, and food-importing countries in Africa and the Global South, to "push for a Black Sea freedom of navigation agreement." Kallas said such an agreement would protect lives and vital supplies, "Ukraine put forward this proposal, but Russia rejected it." Kallas added that since July, grain exports via the EU-Ukraine Solidarity Lanes have increased by nearly 2 million tons.