Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Dmytro Snek said his country opened two routes, through Poland and Romania, for grain exports to avoid a global food crisis, but bottlenecks have slowed the supply chain.
Snick said in a statement to Reuters on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore that “global food security is at risk because the war has halted grain exports from Ukraine across the Black Sea, causing significant food shortages. He added that “Kyiv is in talks with the countries of the Baltic region to add a third corridor for food exports,” but did not provide details on the amount of grain that has already been sent or will move along these routes.
Ukraine is the world’s fourth-largest grain exporter, and its authorities said that “about 30 million tons of grain are stored on the lands under its control, and they are trying to ship it by land, by sea or by rail.”
The United Nations has repeatedly warned of a world food crisis due to grain shortages, while the West has accused Russia of obstructing the export of Ukrainian grain to world markets, allegations that Moscow vehemently denied as Russian President Vladimir Putin previously stated that ” there were no problems with the export of grain from Ukraine, and that his country did not interfere in it, but on the contrary, stressed the need for Ukraine to remove mines from ports so that ships loaded with grain could leave without problems.”
The war in Ukraine has dominated the Shangri-La Dialogue, which kicked off Friday in Singapore and is a forum for the world’s top military officials, diplomats and arms companies.
Source: El Nashra