EU praises Ukraine's efforts to restore grain exports - statement at UN

This was stated at the UN Security Council meeting on Tuesday by EU Permanent Representative to the UN Olof Skoog, Ukrinform’s own correspondent reports.

According to the permanent representative, the successful creation of the "Ukrainian corridor" for civilian cargo vessels enabled Ukraine to export more than 1.5 million tons of food, thereby contributing to the strengthening of global food security.

The European Union also praises the efforts by Ukraine and the private sector “to put in place an insurance scheme that reduces the cost of this route," he added.

Through Ukraine’s own Grain from Ukraine program, more than 170,000 tons of grain went to countries that need it, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen, Skoog said.

"The EU supports all efforts, including those of the UN, to facilitate exports of Ukraine’s grain and other agricultural products to the countries most in need, notably in Africa and the Middle East," he said.

The EU will continue to expand the possibilities of the Solidarity Lanes initiative to promote Ukrainian grain transit and export via land routes to world markets. They have already made it possible to export more than 57 million tons of Ukrainian agricultural products, Skoog said.

He emphasized that Russia's deliberate shelling of civilian infrastructure and civilians in Ukraine adds to the “growing evidence of war crimes, as reported by the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine”.

Russia and its leadership must be held fully accountable for waging a war of aggression against Ukraine and other most serious crimes under international law, the diplomat stressed.

He said the EU would increase assistance for the protection of power generators, power transformers, mobile heating stations, high-voltage and lighting equipment "to help Ukraine and its people face yet another winter at war." Through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, the EU has sent more than 5,000 power generators to Ukraine, he said.

In addition, the EU and its member states join Ukraine in commemorating the millions of victims of the Holodomor, Skoog added.

" If we do not educate ourselves about our history, we risk repeating our mistakes. That is why we support Ukraine’s initiative of a joint declaration and we call on all other UN members to support it as well," the permanent representative said.

As reported, the Ukrainian delegation to the UN initiated the signing by the member states of the Declaration on the occasion of the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor, which will be made public this week.

On Tuesday, the UN Security Council discussed the situation of Ukraine in connection with the Russian war and its consequences for global food security.