Johnson and Zelensky discuss ways to ease global food crisis

BORIS JOHNSON has 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 Secretary-General 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 prewar levels.

Around 20 million tonnes of grain are stuck in Ukraine from the previous harvest, according to the UN.

“The Prime Minister raised his significant concerns about the growing global fall-out 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,” a Downing Street spokesperson 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 spokesperson added.

The Prime Minister and Ukraine’s president also agreed to increase work with allies such as the United States, France and Germany to “define the longer-term security architecture for Ukraine”.

Mr Zelensky said that they also discussed how to import fuel into Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Chancellor Rishi Sunak said the UK is prepared to guarantee up to £40 million for further financing to secure electricity supplies to Ukraine, as he met G7 allies in Bonn, Germany.

Mr Sunak said yesterday: “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.”