G7 warns over Ukraine grain crisis, eyes Solidarity Lanes
WEISSENHAUS, Germany, May 14, (Agencies): The Group of Seven leading economies warned Saturday that the war in Ukraine is stoking a global food and energy crisis that threatens poor countries, and urgent measures are needed to unblock stores of grain that Russia is preventing from leaving Ukraine.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who hosted a meeting of top G-7 diplomats, said the war had become a “global crisis.”
Baerbock said up to 50 million people, particularly in Africa and the Middle East, would face hunger in the coming months unless ways are found to release Ukrainian grain, which accounts for a sizeable share of the worldwide supply.
In statements released at the end of the three-day meeting on Germany’s Baltic Sea coast, the G-7 pledged to provide further humanitarian aid to the most vulnerable.
“Russia’s war of aggression has generated one of the most severe food and energy crises in recent history which now threatens those most vulnerable across the globe,” the group said.
“We are determined to accelerate a coordinated multilateral response to preserve global food security and stand by our most vulnerable partners in this respect,” it added.
Canada’s foreign minister, Melanie Joly, said her country, another major agricultural exporter, stands ready to send ships to European ports so Ukrainian grain can be brought to those in need.
“We need to make sure that these cereals are sent to the world,” she told reporters. “If not, millions of people will be facing famine.”
The G-7 nations also called on China not to help Russia, including by undermining international sanctions or justifying Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.
Beijing should support the sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, and not “assist Russia in its war of aggression,” they said.
The G-7 urged China “to desist from engaging in information manipulation, disinformation and other means to legitimize Russia’s war of aggression against
Ukraine.”
The grouping, which comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, also reiterated its stance that the territories seized by Russian forces need to be returned to Ukraine.
“We will never recognize borders Russia has attempted to change by military aggression,” they said.
The meeting in Weissenhaus, northeast of Hamburg, was billed as an opportunity for officials to discuss the broader implications of the war for geopolitics, energy and food security, and ongoing international efforts to tackle climate change and the pandemic.
In a series of closing statements, the G-7 nations also addressed a wide range of global problems from the situation in Afghanistan to tensions in the Middle East.
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BRUSSELS: The European Commission Thursday presented a set of actions to establish “Solidarity Lanes” to help Ukraine export its agricultural produce.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its blockade of Ukrainian ports, Ukrainian grain and other agricultural goods can no longer reach their destinations.
The situation is threatening global food security and there is an urgent need to establish alternative logistics routes using all relevant transport modes, it said in a press release.
EU Commissioner for Transport Adina Valean said: “20 million tons of grains have to leave Ukraine in less than three months using the EU infrastructure.”
“This is a gigantesque challenge, so it is essential to coordinate and optimize the logistic chains, put in place new routes, and avoid, as much as possible, the bottlenecks,” she said.
The EU will work on a number of priority actions in the short term.
They include providing additional freight rolling stock, vessels and lorries, prioritization of Ukrainian agricultural export shipments, and providing more capacity for temporary storage of Ukrainian exports in EU territory.