Canada to help Ukraine find grain export options to ease supply concerns – Trudeau | world news
KYIV (Reuters) – Canada will help Ukraine find options on how to export stockpiled grain to maintain global food security that has been rocked by Russia’s invasion of the country, the prime minister said on Sunday. Canadian Justin Trudeau.
Nearly 25 million tons of grain are stuck in Ukraine and unable to leave the country due to infrastructure problems and blocked Black Sea ports, including Mariupol, an official with the United Nations food agency said last week. United Nations. Mariupol endured the most destructive fighting of the 10-week war.
Food prices hit record highs in March following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the world’s 4th largest exporter of maize (maize) in the 2020/21 season and 6th largest exporter of wheat. Prices dipped slightly in April.
“We know people around the world are going to starve because of Russia’s actions,” Trudeau told Reuters in an interview.
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“There is grain waiting to be shipped to Ukraine. We need to make sure that Russia doesn’t block the grain that the world needs from getting to the world.”
Since Moscow launched what it calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine in late February, the latter has been forced to export grain by train across its western border.
Kyiv is also looking to use the Danube ports in the south of the country to facilitate exports.
Shipping via Danube river ports could be part of the solution, Trudeau said, without revealing details, but adding that a number of options were being considered.
“We’re just looking to solve a very direct problem.”
Analysts have warned that Ukraine will face a major shortage of storage facilities in the 2022/23 season due to a sharp drop in exports.
Trudeau, during an unannounced visit to Ukraine, said after meeting President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday that Canada was providing $25 million to the United Nations World Food Program as part of efforts to maintain food security.
Canada will also remove trade tariffs on all Ukrainian imports into Canada for next year.
“It doesn’t serve anyone if Vladimir Putin’s war not only kills Ukrainians, but starves people all over the world,” Trudeau told Reuters, referring to the Russian president.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth, writing by Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Himani Sarkar)
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