Marco Rubio said Washington is examining Turkish proposals aimed at securing grain shipments through the Black Sea. Speaking after the G20 meeting in Atlanta, the US secretary of state said the ideas had arrived one or two weeks earlier.

He welcomed the prospect of a partial ceasefire but offered no timetable. An arrangement could address food shipments without ending the wider war, he said.

Contacts with Russia and Ukraine continue. Rubio’s comments do not announce a signed new agreement.