Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg spoke at a press conference after their bilateral meeting at the European Union headquarters in Brussels on December 16, 2021. JOHN THYS AFP KYIV Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday he was talking to Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Jens Stoltenberg about Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration.
Zelensky said he coordinated further steps with Stoltenberg on Ukraine's path toward integration with NATO.
Stoltenberg said that NATO will continue to support Ukraine for as long as it takes. On September 30, Zelensky said that Ukraine would apply for membership in NATO under an accelerated process.
The Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak said that Kyiv is holding talks over the extension of a key grain exports deal that expires next month, according to the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
Ukraine does not conduct direct negotiations with Russia, but is involved in a dialogue with T rkiye and the United Nations within the negotiating groups, Podolyak said.
Podolyak said he hopes that Ukraine will be able to extend the mandate on exporting grain from its ports, as difficult as it was to describe the talks.
On July 22, Ukraine and Russia signed a deal with the United Nations in Istanbul to resume food and fertilizer shipments from Ukrainian ports to international markets via the Black Sea.
READ MORE: UN: Grain exports from Ukraine help to reduce prices.
According to Ukraine's Infrastructure Ministry, a total of 274 vessels carrying 6.2 million tons of agricultural products departed Ukrainian ports for the countries in Asia, Europe and Africa since the deal came into effect on Aug 1, the deal was in effect on Aug 1, a total of 274 vessels.
The agreement is due to expire on November 19.