Pursuant to the instruction of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak discussed the implementation of the Ukrainian Peace Formula with representatives of foreign diplomatic missions.
The seventh meeting of this format, attended by more than 70 representatives of foreign countries, was dedicated to the Food Security clause of the Formula and took place at the premises of a bread producer in Kyiv region. Last year, the company suffered from one of Russia's missile attacks. The ambassadors were shown the consequences of the attack, including the destroyed workshop and equipment. They also toured the plant's production facilities, which are gradually being restored.
According to the Head of the Presidential Office, 32 countries in Africa alone depend on Ukrainian grain exports. He thanked the partners for ensuring the operation of the "grain corridor" in the Black Sea and for supporting Volodymyr Zelenskyy's "Grain from Ukraine" humanitarian initiative, which provides for the supply of grain to the most vulnerable countries on the African continent.
"We understand how important it is to help people in other countries who, as the citizens of Ukraine, are also suffering from the war and from the same aggressor," he said.
Andriy Yermak stated: "Ukraine is ready to continue these initiatives, but Russia has blocked food supplies from the Black Sea region to other countries, as well as destroyed Ukrainian grain terminals and port infrastructure with its missile attacks, and thus uses weapons to blackmail other countries with a possible food crisis.
"The Black Sea is important for global food markets and food security. Our ports are important. And we need to create a sustainable logistics system. So, together with you, we are working on concrete steps and actions to ensure that Russia will no longer force people to starve," the Head of the Presidential Office said.
He thanked the representatives of foreign countries for their active participation in the working groups dedicated to each of the points of the Peace Formula. He reminded that these groups are preparing draft framework documents for each point of the Formula, which will provide detailed steps to restore a just and lasting peace in Ukraine and will be universal for any country.
"We aim to create tools that can be used in any potential armed conflict or war. Every country in the world can contribute to the Peace Formula. That is why we are constantly inviting new participants," emphasized Andriy Yermak.
According to him, the joint developments of the working groups will become the basis for further work in the framework of the upcoming third meeting at the level of national security advisors. And the decisions developed during these consultations will be submitted for consideration by leaders of countries and governments at the Global Peace Summit. Thematic summits are also planned.
The meeting was attended by Deputy Prime Minister for Reconstruction of Ukraine and Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development Oleksandr Kubrakov, Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Olha Stefanishyna, Deputy Minister for Development of Economy, Trade and Agriculture Taras Kachka, Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine for Digital Development, Digital Transformation and Digitalization Denys Bashlyk and Advisor to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Vladyslav Vlasiuk. They briefed the ambassadors on the current situation with food security in Ukraine.
In particular, Oleksandr Kubrakov informed about the logistics of food exports during Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the progress of our country's grain initiative, and the impact of aggression and termination of Russia's participation in the grain initiative on grain and food prices on the world market. He also spoke about the measures that Ukraine has taken and is taking to develop alternative logistics routes involving partner countries and our neighbors, the development of the Danube maritime cluster and the dynamics of transshipment in Danube ports, the work of the temporary maritime corridor, etc.
Dr. Christopher Fomunyoh, Regional Director for Central and West Africa at the National Democratic Institute (USA), who is an ambassador of the "Grain from Ukraine" initiative, noted that thanks to the humanitarian initiative launched by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, food was sent to the countries most affected by food shortages: Yemen, Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. He thanked Ukraine for its leadership in this area, all the countries that joined this humanitarian initiative and made its implementation possible, and the UN World Food Program for its coordination.
The implementation of this initiative will allow not only to talk about Ukraine's leadership in food security, but also to raise awareness on the African continent and in the Global South in general about the role of our country, which ensures food security in times of war, Christopher Fomunyoh is convinced.
