MOSCOW, April 3. /TASS/. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin discussed the implementation of the Istanbul agreements to ensure food security over the phone with UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths.

"The implementation of the Istanbul package agreements aimed at ensuring global food security and providing assistance to Asian, African and Latin American countries in need was discussed," according to a statement released by the Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday following the March 31 conversation. Moreover, the parties discussed the reconstruction of the Tolyatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline.

Vershinin and Griffiths also focused on Syria’s recovery after the February earthquake. "The Russian side noted the importance of ensuring wide local access to those in need in coordination and as agreed with Damascus. <…> The need to provide assistance on a non-discriminatory basis, while respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic, in strict accordance with the norms of international humanitarian law, was stressed," the ministry said.