The President of Ukraine celebrated on Tuesday the arrival in Turkey of the first ship loaded with cereals that was stranded in the country and said that in Russia they understand that this step means losing an “opportunity” to continue “terrorizing” the world.
For Zelensky, the food crisis is seen as another Russian weapon to win political concessions in the war, something he says is now being done with gas supplies. “Russia creates a deficit, pushes prices up and, when this causes social unrest, it demands political concessions. It shouldn’t work with food.“, he stressed.
In his usual speech, the Ukrainian leader stressed that exports are also important so that farmers and agricultural companies have enough resources to work in the coming year. The next step is ensure “regularity” necessary for the country and consumers of Ukrainian products.
This is a food security problem for our country as well: we are making sure [a colheita] next year.”
Last week, Zelensky expressed mistrust of Russia’s stance on continued exports and warned that the country might not refrain from pestering them. Despite this, he was optimistic that the first grain shipment out of Ukraine is a “positive” sign that a global food crisis can be averted.
There can be no “illusions”: Zelensky warns that Russia cannot refrain from cutting off exports
The reason it was the first Ukrainian ship loaded with Ukrainian grain. En route to Lebanon, the ship left the port of Odessa on Monday with 26,000 tons of corn. She anchored this Tuesday in Istanbul, Turkey, where she makes a mandatory stop to be inspected. The measure is part of the agreement signed by Ukraine and Russia with Turkey and the United Nations to resume grain exports.
Source: Observadora
