Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday (November 26) hosted a summit in Kyiv promoting Ukraine’s “Grain from Ukraine” initiative. The initiative is aimed at providing foodgrains to countries most vulnerable to famine and drought.
Ukraine is a major exporter of foodgrains and Russian invasion had raised the spectre of global food crisis as foodgrains couldn’t be exported from Ukrainian ports.
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Zelensky said that the ‘Grain from Ukraine’ initiative demonstrated that global food security was “not just empty words” for Kyiv.
Zelenskiy said Kyiv had raised around $150 million from more than 20 countries and the European Union to export grain to countries including Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia and Yemen.
“We plan to send at least 60 vessels from Ukrainian ports to countries that most face the threat of famine and drought,” Zelenskiy told the gathering.
The summit was attended in-person by the prime ministers of Belgium, Poland and Lithuania and the president of Hungary. Germany and France’s presidents and the head of the European Commission delivered speeches by video.
Announced by Kyiv earlier this month, the initiative is in addition to a UN-brokered deal that has allowed some Ukrainian grain shipments through the Black Sea, a vital route for the major wheat producer’s exports that had been blocked.
(With inputs from agencies)
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