The international community should help create a “safe passage” for the millions of tons of grain stuck in Ukraine to leave the country, its deputy prime minister said.
Yuliia Svyrydenko, Ukraine’s first deputy prime minister, told the BBC that some kind of “corridor” was needed.
Ukraine’s inability to export its grain has caused global food prices to spike.
It has also raised the prospect of famine in the countries that depend on its exports.
Ms Svyrydenko, who is also Ukraine’s economy minister, called on the international community to help unblock the country’s seaports.
She said this could be a “solution” that would allow Ukraine to export the grain that is currently stuck in its silos and cannot be shipped.
“We need the support of our international partners to secure our exports through the seaports… to find a way to build a corridor or some other solution to give Ukrainian ships a chance [to export via the Black Sea],” she said. “A safe passage.”
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She hinted that military means might be necessary to achieve this.
“We need a guarantee from partners, of course a defense guarantee, a security guarantee in order to be able to export [using] these ships,” said Ms. Svyrydenko.
“And to do it not just once, but regularly. That’s the most important.”
Ukraine’s wheat exports plummeted after the Russian invasion.
As wheat prices have soared in global commodity markets, the cost of everything from bread and cakes to noodles and pasta has risen.
Ukraine can export small amounts of its goods by river, rail and barges on the Danube.
However, Ms Svyrydenko warned that these routes were insufficient.
“I think if you do the math, it would take us five, six, seven years to export all this agricultural crops through these routes. Therefore, it is extremely important for us at the moment to unblock the seaports and we are requesting this from our partners,” she says.
“The world needs it because Russia threatens the world with world hunger and the only way to solve this problem is to unblock the seaports.
“If we don’t give farmers the opportunity to export their goods, there’s no point in them going into the next growing season,” she continued.
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