KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hosted a summit in Kyiv on Saturday to promote its 鈥淕rain from Ukraine鈥� initiative to export grain to countries most vulnerable to famine and drought.
The Ukrainian leader said the plan demonstrated that global food security was 鈥渘ot just empty words鈥� for Kyiv. The Kremlin has said that Ukraine鈥檚 Black Sea exports during the war have not been reaching the most vulnerable countries.
Zelensky said Kyiv had raised around $150 million from more than 20 countries and the European Union to export grain to countries including Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia and Yemen.
鈥淲e plan to send at least 60 vessels from Ukrainian ports to countries that most face the threat of famine and drought,鈥� Zelensky told the gathering.
The summit was attended in-person by the prime ministers of Belgium, Poland and Lithuania and the president of Hungary. Germany and France鈥檚 presidents and the head of the European Commission delivered speeches shown by video.
Announced by Kyiv earlier this month, the initiative is in addition to a UN-brokered deal that has allowed some Ukrainian grain shipments through the Black Sea, a vital route for the major wheat producer鈥檚 exports that had been blocked.
Flanked by his chief of staff and prime minister on Saturday, Zelensky said the Grain from Ukraine initiative aimed to demonstrate that for Kyiv global food security is 鈥渘ot just empty words.鈥�
鈥淭his will be one of the biggest contributions to global stability 鈥� a real and very necessary step,鈥� he said.