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Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has asked the international community to act quickly to remove a Russian blockade from his country's ports, allowing wheat supplies to resume and avoid a worldwide food catastrophe.
The president’s statement came after missiles hit a retail center and a depot in Odesa on Monday, a key Black Sea port for agricultural exports, killing one person and injuring five others.
“For the first time in decades, there is no usual movement of the merchant fleet, no usual port functioning in Odesa. Probably this has never happened in Odesa since World War II," Zelenskyy said.
“Without our agricultural exports, dozens of countries in different parts of the world are already on the brink of food shortages. And over time, the situation can become downright terrible," Zelenskyy said.
"Politicians are already discussing the possible consequences of the price crisis and famine in Africa and Asia. This is a direct consequence of Russian aggression, which can be overcome only together — by all Europeans, by the whole free world.”
According to the UN's food agency, Ukraine, one of the world's major exporters of corn and wheat, now has around 25 million tonnes of grain ready for export but blocked owing to the Russian stoppage.
European Council President Charles Michel meet Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal in Odesa on Monday which was disrupted by a missile assault, forcing them to have a conversation in a bomb bunker.
Michel said on Twitter that he “saw silos full of grain, wheat, and corn ready for export.”
“This badly needed food is stranded because of the Russian war and blockade of Black Sea ports, causing dramatic consequences for vulnerable countries,” he said in a tweet. “We need a global response.”
Russia has been blocking Ukrainian ports since its invasion on February 24.
Picture Credits: Reuters
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