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Pope Francis said at his weekly address in St. Peter's Square that this "step shows that it is possible to conduct dialogue to reach concrete results." "This event presents itself as a sign of hope and my own heartfelt wish is that following this path, it will be possible to bring an end to the fighting and reach a just and lasting peace," he said. Ships loaded with grain began leaving Ukraine's ports on Aug. 1 for the first time since Russia's invasion after Kyiv and Moscow signed a deal backed by Turkey and the UN for the export of grain.