Monday, May 2, 2022

US Congressman McGovern calls for agricultural export corridors from Ukraine

02.05.2022 07:05


It is necessary to help the Ukrainians establish a humanitarian corridor that will allow them to ship food by sea to other countries.

The relevant statement was made by Chair of the House Rules Committee, Member of the US Congressional Delegation to Ukraine Jim McGovern at a briefing in Rzeszów, Poland, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“We also will continue to fund our international relief organizations like the UN World Food Programme, and others. And we must find a way to help the Ukrainians establish a humanitarian corridor that will allow them to ship food by sea, to help the poorest people in the world, so they don’t go hungry,” McGovern said.

In his words, Putin’s brutal war is no longer only a war against the people of Ukraine. It is also a war against the world’s most vulnerable. Ukraine is basically the breadbasket of the world that provides wheat, maize, sunflower oil and many other things to countries all around the world, especially in Africa and in the Middle East. It provides important food to relief organizations, such as the UN World Food Programme.

And yet this war, Putin’s war, is exacerbating hunger all around the world. His deliberate targeting of food supplies has resulted in great pain inside Ukraine and around the world. Food prices have risen, energy prices have risen. And that in turn means that hunger is on the rise. What kind of person does that?” McGovern noted.

According to McGovern, the US Congressional Delegation also talked with President Zelensky about the importance of providing assistance directly to Ukraine, so that he has the ability and the flexibility to provide what is necessary to people in need: internally displaced persons, those who are staying in the conflict areas, families in Ukraine and Poland.

Photo: telegram.com

https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-economy/3472573-us-congressman-mcgovern-calls-for-agricultural-export-corridors-from-ukraine.html

Over 4M tonnes of grain blocked in Ukrainian ports due to war - UN

02.05.2022 01:40

Almost 4.5 million tonnes of grain have been blocked in Ukrainian ports. Exports through the closed sea routes are halted amid an ongoing Russian military invasion.

This was stated by the UN World Food Program official Martin Frick, Ukrinform reports with reference to RFE/RL.

Before the war, Ukraine was one of the world's largest wheat exporters and corn producers. Many countries rely on Ukrainian wheat supplies, according to the UN.

"Hunger should not become a weapon," Frick said. He called for the resumption of Ukrainian food supplies to other nations to alleviate the global food crisis.

Read also: MFA Ukraine on invaders expropriating Ukrainian grain: Russia walks in the footsteps of Stalinists, Nazis

Western governments have repeatedly warned of a possible food crisis and famine in a number of countries due to Russia's war against Ukraine. In March, the United Nations saw food prices rise by more than 12 percent, a record since 1990.

Rising prices and supply disruptions have jeopardized food safety in the Middle East, Africa, and parts of Asia, where the population is constantly malnourished and where millions survive on bread they receive off subsidies and cheap noodles.

It should be recalled that in late March, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman said the Russian Navy was blocking access to Ukrainian ports, depriving Kyiv of the opportunity to export grain and preventing 94 ships carrying food from entering the Mediterranean.

https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-economy/3472492-over-4m-tonnes-of-grain-blocked-in-ukrainian-ports-due-to-war-un.html

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