Russia must stop playing with global hunger - French Foreign Minister

French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna has said that Russia must stop blocking Ukrainian seaports as this could lead to world hunger.

Colonna spoke of this in Luxembourg at a meeting of EU foreign ministers, Ukrinform reports.

"Russia must stop playing with world hunger," said the top diplomat. She also stressed that "Russia must stop blocking Ukrainian ports and destroying storage infrastructure in Ukraine."

According to the Minister, France strongly supports the efforts of the UN Secretary General and the special role of Turkey in finding an agreement to facilitate the export of grain from Ukraine via the Black Sea.

"There are many risks that Ukrainian grain will remain blocked; it’s dangerous for global stability," said Kolonna.

She noted that the issue of unblocking the export of Ukrainian grain will be at the center of negotiations between EU foreign ministers.

On February 24, Russia launched a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine. As a result of hostilities in Ukrainian ports blocked more than 20 million tonnes of grain, much of which was intended for the UN World Food Program.

The European Union has created so-called "solidarity corridors" for the export of Ukrainian grain by land, rail, road, and inland waterways, but these emergency measures cannot fully address the issue. The EU supports UN efforts to find further ways to unblock Ukrainian ports and resume trade via the Black Sea routes.