16 Jun 2022 20:57

EU calls on Russia to lift blockade of Ukrainian grain exports - Macron

PARIS/ROME. June 16 (Interfax) - European Union leaders have appealed to Russia as a permanent member of the UN Security Council to unblock the export of Ukrainian grain.

"This requires lifting the blockade on Ukrainian ports, the Russian navy must stop it," French President Emmanuel Macron told a press in Kyiv on Thursday after talks with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky.

During the talks, the leaders of Ukraine, Italy, Germany, Romania and France backed a UN resolution to unblock the ports, he said.

The threat to global food security is a direct result of Russia's military operation in Ukraine and nothing to do with European sanctions, the French leader said.

For his part, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi told the press conference that the whole of Europe should unit to resolve the problem of safe shipping and transportation of Ukrainian grain.

"We need to do everything possible to prevent a dramatic development... To avoid (...) a horrible crisis we must ensure the safe transportation of the grain. This must not spill into a global disaster. To that end, we need to concentrate on how to organize the grain carriage across the Black Sea (...) And we Europeans must all act together," Draghi said.

There is still time to resolve the issue since the "harvest is largely due in September," he said.