President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has announced the launch of the Grain from Ukraine program, under which food will be delivered from Ukraine to the poor countries of Asia and Africa.

He announced this in Kyiv, opening the Global Food Security Summit. It is attended online and offline by President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, UN Secretary-General António Guterres, the prime ministers of Poland, Lithuania, Romania, Belgium, as well as the president of Hungary.

Zelensky said that “as part of the initiative, by the beginning of next spring, it is planned to send at least 60 ships from the ports of Ukraine to countries that are under the threat of famine and drought, all of which are in dire need of help.”

As of today, he said, “almost 50 ships have left our ports, this is 12 million tonnes of agricultural products for 40 countries of the world.” Zelensky noted that Russia is trying to “drag out the way of ships – their queue in the Bosphorus is 80 ships. We are in favor of an increase in the number of ports and the indefinite continuation of this initiative.”

International Summit on Food Security. Photo credit: Presidential Office.

Following the summit, Zelensky said a joint statement will be issued.

“We will welcome any format of participation in this program,” he said.

Zelensky also proposed the creation of “a new international institution to respond to all global threats – humanitarian, in the field of security, headquartered in Kyiv or Odesa, from where a ship will soon depart as part of the program.”

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