EU welcomes departure of grain shipment from Odesa as first step to mitigating global food crisis

The EU today welcomed the departure of a grain shipment from Ukraine as a “first step” towards easing the food crisis caused by the Russian invasion.

But spokesman Peter Stano said the European Union still expected the “implementation of the whole deal and resumption of Ukrainian exports to the customers around the world”.

The EU spokesman accused Russia of blocking the shipments “for months” and noted that Russia had fired missiles at the port of Odesa on the day after the deal was signed.

He blamed the food shortages gripping parts of the Middle East and Africa on “the unprovoked Russian aggression on February 24 and the blocking of Ukrainian ports and grain exports”.

In addition, Stano Russia was “destroying the fields in Ukraine, destroying the silos in Ukraine, burning the grain or looting and trying to sell it on behalf of Russia”.

Find out more

Press release