Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on Monday that the global food crisis will continue "as long as this colonial war continues," referring to the Russian military attack on his country. In a video address to African Union members, Zelensky noted that "difficult negotiations" are currently underway to lift the Russian blockade in the Black Sea on Ukrainian ports, which is preventing the export of millions of tons of grain to Africa.
He affirmed: "There has been no progress so far. The global food crisis will persist as long as this colonial war continues." Concurrently, the Ukrainian Ministry of Agriculture announced that Kyiv, which is facing a shortage of storage facilities for the 2022 grain harvest due to the Russian military operation, will soon receive its first temporary storage from abroad. The Ukrainian agriculture minister had stated earlier that when the corn harvest ends in the fall, the shortage in storage capacity will reach 15 million tons.
Reuters reported that the ministry has "appealed to the governments of the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the European Union to provide Ukraine with temporary storage facilities. The initial results are: the first shipment is already sailing to Ukraine." The ministry has not specified the nature of the storage facilities Ukraine will receive. Earlier, the ministry indicated they could be either special large plastic containers or temporary silos. Ukraine states its grain and oilseed production may drop to 65 million tons this year, down from 106 million tons in 2021, due to the war.
