UNITED NATIONS — The United Nations on Friday said humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths had “frank and constructive discussions” with Russian officials as part of U.N. efforts to reach a deal on agricultural exports amid an escalating food crisis.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters that Griffiths held meetings with officials in the ministries of foreign affairs and defense on Wednesday and Thursday focused on seeking ways to facilitate the export of grain and other food from Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea to global markets.

His meetings followed a Monday visit to the Russian capital by Rebeca Grynspan, the secretary-general of the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development, who is focusing on getting Russian grains and fertilizer to global markets.

Dujarric said Friday that “we have seen a lot of positive comments come from various capitols.”

But he said “there are a lot of moving pieces in this puzzle” and he was not in a position to confirm reports of a possible meeting in Istanbul on June 8 when Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov visits Turkey, or that there will be “an observation mechanism” based in Istanbul but run by the U.N. for grain exports from Ukraine.

Dujarric did confirm that U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke to Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, a close Russian ally, on Friday about export issues.

He would not confirm Belarusian media reports that they discussed the possibility of exporting Ukrainian grain through Belarus in exchange for access for Belarusian products to be exported through ports in Germany, the Baltics and Poland.

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