Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba stated that 2/3 of the grain, which Ukraine has already sent to foreign consumers through the "grain corridor", is directed to the markets of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
"Just now, another vessel with Ukrainian grain has reached the shores of Africa near Sudan. In total, two-thirds of the ships sent are directed to Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. The recovery of Ukrainian food exports through the "grain corridor" had a positive effect on the reduction of prices in the food market. This is important to mitigate the effects of the food crisis, especially for the most vulnerable countries. In August, as soon as the first shipments from Ukrainian ports took place, wheat prices fell by at least 5%. These are real facts, and the russians' fakes about sending Ukrainian grain only to Europe simply do not correspond to reality," the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba said.
The Minister mentioned that since the launch of the "grain corridor", Ukrainian grain has been sent to the ports of China, Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Israel, India, the Republic of Korea, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Turkey, Yemen, and the EU countries.
Dmytro Kuleba reminded that the only reason for the deepening of the world food crisis this year was and remains the brutal war launched by russia, which blocked Ukrainian seaports and purposefully destroyed agricultural infrastructure and logistics. He emphasized that Ukraine, as one of the guarantors of global food security, makes every effort to ensure exports, and Russia bears full responsibility for the further functioning of the "grain corridor".
The Minister drew attention to the fact that russia may deliberately raise doubts about the effectiveness of the "grain corridor", preparing to bargain and blackmail the world as the end of 120-days of the "grain" initiative approaches. He called on the partners to conduct consolidated pressure on russia in order to stop its famine games with the world and fully fulfill its obligations under the agreements. Dmytro Kuleba also called on the recipient countries of Ukrainian agricultural products to demand from russia not to interfere with the functioning of the "grain corridor" and to continue its operation.
As a reminder, on July 22 in Istanbul, at the proposal of the United Nations, Ukraine, Turkey, and UN Secretary-General António Guterres signed the Initiative on the safe transportation of grain and food products from the Ukrainian ports of Odessa, Chornomorsk, and Yuzhny.