Published: Just now
More support and more sanctions will be raised when EU foreign ministers discuss Russia’s war in Ukraine again. There is both concern and hope for the important grain export.
Russian warships on the Black Sea and mined waters off Ukraine’s remaining ports have almost completely made impossible the normally important Ukrainian exports of grain and crops.
With the help of Turkey in particular, work is still being done on some form of solution.
– It is difficult. These are tough negotiations. But there is a certain optimism on the part of the UN that it will still be possible to move forward, states Cabinet Secretary Robert Rydberg, who is acting for Foreign Minister Ann Linde (S) at today’s EU meeting in Brussels.
Is the harvest rotting?
Within the EU, there is hope that by the end of the summer, they will still have received at least 50-60 percent of what is currently stuck, among other things with the help of transports along the coast to Constanta in Romania.
Saving food is vital.
– There are tens of millions of people outside Europe who suffer and go hungry as a result of the Russian warfare – not the sanctions, as the Russians sometimes claim, says Rydberg.
– Soon a harvest is approaching in Ukraine. Silona is full. If you can not get what you have there, the next harvest will rot away and it would be catastrophic, says the cabinet secretary.
“Must endure”
During the day, a formal EU green light of an additional EUR 500 million in arms aid to Ukraine is expected. In addition, another sanction package is underway, including a halt to Russian gold exports.
– It’s a good package. From a Swedish perspective, we could imagine going even further, but I think it is realistic to have a package that contains gold, additional measures to ensure that the sanctions are actually implemented and additional listings of individuals and organizations on the Russian side, says Rydberg.
Within the EU machinery, there is a constant concern that the member states will no longer be able to hold together in their view of the war, the longer it drags on. But so far it works.
– It has become more difficult, but it continues. We must have as much endurance as Ukraine and Russia in this terrible war, says Robert Rydberg in Brussels.