The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Johnson and Zelensky discuss getting grain out of Ukraine amid food crisis
Boris Johnson discussed getting grain out of Ukraine with President Volodymyr Zelensky to alleviate the global food crisis from Russia’s “craven and reckless” blockade.
The prime minister raised his “significant concerns” with his ally in a call yesterday morning as they plotted how to open up the “critical sea and land supply” routes.
Their talks came after United Nations secretarygeneral Antonio Guterres warned Vladimir Putin’s invasion could cause a food crisis lasting for years. He said some countries could face famines if Ukrainian exports are not brought back to pre-war levels.
Around 20 million tonnes of grain are stuck in Ukraine from the previous harvest, according to the UN.
Mr Johnson held a call with the Ukrainian president as he seeks to move on from the partygate scandal after Scotland Yard closed its investigation.
“The prime minister raised his significant concerns about the growing global fallout from Russia’s illegal invasion and President Putin’s craven and reckless blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, including rising food prices in developing countries,” Downing Street said.
“They looked at options to open up critical sea and land supply routes for Ukrainian grain stocks, and committed to direct their teams to work urgently on the next steps.”
The men also agreed to increase work with allies such as the US, France and Germany to “define the longer-term security architecture for Ukraine”.
Mr Zelensky said they also discussed how to import fuel into Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the UK is prepared to guarantee up to 50 million dollars (£40m) for further financing to secure electricity supplies to Ukraine, as he met G7 allies in Bonn, Germany.
He said: “It’s clear that Putin’s barbaric and illegal invasion of Ukraine has not only had a devastating humanitarian impact on Ukraine, it is also causing significant disruption to the global economy, the impacts of which are being felt across the G7, including here at home in the UK.”