The Spaniard’s statement came on the heels of a meeting with European Union foreign ministers to find ways to ship these crops as the global food crisis approaches.
Ukraine is one of the world’s largest wheat producers, but its crops cannot be exported. More than 20 million tons have been in silos since Russia launched its invasion and closed the ports in February.
” One cannot imagine that millions of tons of wheat are still withheld in Ukraine while the rest of the world’s population is starving. It is a real war crime. »
The battle stories
Between the West and Russia, which blames the sanctions for the aggravation of the food crisis and the explosion of food prices, will be at the center of the discussions of the foreign ministers of the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.European Union.
European sanctions against Russia do not target agricultural products and fertilizers. It can be sold, bought and exported
Josep Borrell insisted.
The Europeans also promised to allocate 1 billion euros (about 1.37 billion Canadian dollars) to combating food insecurity caused by blocking Ukraine’s grain exports and increasing Moscow’s prices for its grain sales via a 30% export tax, Josep Borrell announced.
Presented today to the Ministers [européens] An action plan to boost agricultural production, stabilize trade and launch greater international cooperation
he added.
By land, not sea
Borrell also called on Russia to liberate vital routes in the Black Sea to allow the export of this food.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on June 8 that the ball was in Ukraine’s court. He said that it is up to Russia to remove the mines from its ports in the Black Sea, because Moscow has already made the necessary commitments in this matter.
L ‘European Union supports effortsUnited nations To reach an agreement that resumes Ukrainian grain exports in exchange for measures to facilitate exports of Russian food and fertilizers. But such an agreement requires a green light from Moscow.
Meanwhile, Germany and other countries are building overland roads to get at least some of last season’s stock still stored in silos as harvest begins.
The German foreign minister explained that Berlin was supporting Poland and Romania in adapting their railways to facilitate overland exports. Obviously, at the end of the day, we definitely won’t be able to get all the pills out. But if we can ship at least some of it by different means, it can help us face this global crisis.
Annalena Barbock said.
In 2021, Kyiv harvested 84 million tons of grain, a record far exceeding 65 million tons in 2020.
This year, farmers sowed grain on 14.2 million hectares, while last year they planted 16.9 million hectares, due to the Russian invasion, according to estimates by the Ministry of Agriculture.
