G7 leaders support Ukrainian grain exports, Black Sea Grain Initiative

The leaders of the Group of Seven countries meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, recognized the importance of continuing to export Ukrainian grain to the world market, in particular by solidarity lanes and the Black Sea Grain Initiative. They also called on Russia to stop blackmailing the most vulnerable countries with threats of a food crisis.

According to Ukrinform, this is stated in the G7 statement on Ukraine, the full text of which is published on the European Council’s website.

“We will continue to support the export of Ukrainian agri-products including through the EU-Ukraine Solidarity Lanes. In this regard, we support the expansion and extension of the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI) and we call upon Russia to stop threatening global food supplies and allow the BSGI to operate at its maximum potential. We remain committed to the Grain from Ukraine initiative. Our contributions support the delivery of humanitarian food assistance to the most vulnerable countries in partnership with the UN World Food Programme (WFP),” the document says.

The G7 leaders emphasized that Russia's actions to turn food into a weapon have only exacerbated economic hardship in the world's most vulnerable countries, escalated global food insecurity, and threatened famine at unprecedented levels. The G7 countries will continue to support these countries and provide them with humanitarian aid to cushion the impact of the crisis resulting from Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.

At the same time, the G7 leaders expressed their intention to help resolve the global energy crisis, which was also provoked by Russia's war of aggression.

As previously reported, the 49th Group of Seven summit is underway in Japan and will continue until May 21. Its participants are considering ways to ensure the sustainability of the global economy, including in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.