“Food security is one of the most important elements of global stability,” the 44-year-old said in his daily video address on Saturday. He presented the program “Grain from Ukraine” as an important step in the fight against the global food crisis.
After the end of the Russian naval blockade, Ukraine had already shipped 12 million tons of food to 40 countries through its Black Sea ports. “More than 2.5 million tons of this is destined for countries affected not only by food shortages, but also by a serious crisis,” Zelensky reports. According to him, these deliveries will be expanded with the new grain export initiative. According to the president of Ukraine, the country is preparing sixty grain ships for poor countries. Kiev is receiving financial support from more than 20 countries, which have already pledged $150 million for supplies.
The initiative apparently serves to draw the African and Asian states, which have so far been largely neutral in the war in Ukraine, to Kiev’s side. Moscow, for its part, recently blamed the West for the global food crisis. Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin portrayed his offensive war against Ukraine as a defense against Western claims of hegemony. Unlike the West, most of these countries have not yet taken a clear position in the war.
(SDA)