The UN and the countries involved work so that the ships with Ukrainian cereals leave the ports "if possible every day", and exports from Ukraine "reach an acceptable level", assured yesterday the Lusa source of the organization.

"The idea is that it's not just one ship, but that this whole process allows us to have several ships, if possible every day, leaving the port, so that exports can get to an acceptable level, so that the government of Ukraine can make exports at least close to what they were before the war," pointed out Saviano Abreu, spokesman for the United Nations humanitarian office in Ukraine.

Russia and Ukraine have signed separate agreements with Turkey and the United Nations, paving the way for Ukraine - one of the world's leading 'breadbaskets' - to export 22 million tons of grain and other agricultural products that were stranded at Black Sea ports due to Russia's invasion.

The first shipment of Ukrainian grain left the port of Odessa this morning, where Saviano Abreu, who reported "a very special moment," was in attendance.

"I made some images and videos for some colleagues who are in Istanbul, with the countries involved. It was a moment of great emotion when they saw the video, the sound of the ship leaving the port," he told Lusa news agency.

"They had been since Friday practically without sleep, sitting around making the final adjustments so that this could happen this morning and there was a collective applause, it was an emotional moment for us," he confided.

Saviano Abreu said it was the first time a commercial ship had left the port of Odessa since February 26, two days after the start of the war, because since then all ports have been closed.

The UN spokesman stressed that "the Ukraine" needs the exports to take place, but did not say how often the ships will leave in the coming days.

"It is too early to advance that. The negotiation process continues, with officials from both governments [Russia and Ukraine], the UN and Turkey sitting in Istanbul, working out all the processes so that more ships can leave the port," he shot back.

For now, those involved in the process are focusing on the first ship, which is en route for it to reach Lebanon safely, he added.

The moment is also important for Ukrainians, that is, people who "are suffering from the war and the closure of ports, farmers who have not been able to get their produce out of the country." But Saviano Abreu, in Ukraine since March, recalled that the war and the food crisis also have an impact on the world, with millions of people "seeing hunger coming."

"Food is not getting to Africa or the Middle East. For those people the significance [of the unblocking of Ukrainian ports] is giant," he pointed out.

The spokesman for the UN humanitarian office stressed that "the poorest people in the world suffer the most when exports don't happen and prices start to rise."

"In Africa, three countries - Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia - are extremely hungry again, it's a desperate situation and what happened today will have results for them as well," he stressed.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres announced today that the World Food Programme (WFP) will charter a ship to transport 30,000 tons of Ukrainian wheat that it intends to purchase to respond to the global food crisis. (Lusa)