(Finance) – The Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said nearly half of Ukraine’s grain exports are currently blocked as Russia continues to obstruct the country’s main export routes via the Black Sea and the Azov Sea, calling the situation a potential “catastrophe” pfor global food security. “Today 22 million tons of wheat are held in silos. We cannot supply them to international markets, where they are needed right now,” he said addressing an Indonesian foreign policy think tank in an online forum, as CNN reports.
Zelensky also said the United Nations estimates that the famine could affect another 50 million people this year is a “conservative” estimate. “Famine does not come by itself, it is always accompanied by political chaos that exacerbates the situation, ruins people’s lives, creating unsafe conditions for ordinary people,” he said. “In July, when many Countries will run out of stocks of last year’s harvest, it will be clear that the catastrophe is really coming “
Meanwhile, the President of the European Council Charles Michel sent a letter to the 27 leaders ahead of next week’s council: “During our meeting – reads – we will discuss concrete ways to help Ukraine to export its agricultural products using EU infrastructures: we will also see how to better coordinate multilateral initiatives in this sense “.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and African Union President Macky Sall will speak at the next European Council, via videoconference, in sessions dealing with Ukraine and food security, Michel also communicated.
“We will return to the question of energy – stressed the president of the EU Council -, including the high prices that are hitting our families and businesses hard. We have to speed up the our energy transition if we want to eliminate our dependence on Russian fossil fuels as soon as possible. Based on the decisions made in Versailles, we will discuss the best ways to carry on the work “.
Michel also went back to underlining how Ukraine is demonstrating “an incredible courage and dignity in the face of Russian aggression and atrocities”.