United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited the Ukrainian port city of Odesa on Friday to observe grain export efforts.

Guterres inspected the loading process of grain on the ship along with Ukrainian officials including Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov and urged more efforts to ensure full global access to Ukrainian food products and Russian food and fertilisers after the UN-brokered Black Sea Grain Initiative.

"This is an agreement between two parties locked in bitter conflict. It is unprecedented in scope and scale. But there is still a long way to go on many fronts," he said at a briefing in Odesa. "It is time for massive and generous support so developing countries can purchase the food from this and other ports – and people can buy it."

Guterres also asked that the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station not be cut off from Ukraine's grid in wake of relevant media reports.

"Obviously the electricity from Zaporizhzhia is Ukrainian electricity ... This principle must be fully respected," he said. 

(With input from Reuters and AFP)