Ukraine needs assurances on ports to ship grains, Italy's Draghi says

Ukraine needs assurances that its ports will not be attacked in order to ship out grain cargoes, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said on Thursday.

"We need to unblock the millions of tonnes of cereals that are stuck there because of the conflict. The United Nations' and Turkey's mediation efforts are significant steps," Draghi said in a speech at an OECD ministerial meeting in Paris.

"We have to offer President (Volodymyr) Zelenskiy the assurances he needs that the ports will not be attacked," he added.