The foreign ministers of the Group of Seven nations will discuss how to end a blockade of Ukrainian grain so it can be exported to the world, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Thursday, as the meeting kicks off at the Baltic Sea resort of Weissenhaus, northeast of the German city of Hamburg.
”There are 25 millions of grain currently blocked in the Ukrainian port of Odesa, which means food for millions of people in the world that is urgently needed, above all in African countries and the Middle East,” Baerbock told reporters.
Ukraine is one of the world’s largest grain-producing countries.
The UN has called to reopen the Odesa port in southern Ukraine to help ease a global food crisis. CNN has also reported that Russian forces are stealing thousands of tons of grain from Ukrainian farmers, as well as targeting food storage sites with artillery, according to multiple sources.
The German foreign minister on Thursday welcomed top diplomats of the G7 nations for a three-day meeting, which will focus on the war in Ukraine, energy and food security, relationship with China and climate change.
Baerbock also welcomed her Ukrainian and Moldovan counterparts, Dmytro Kuleba and Nicu Popescu, who are attending the meeting as guests.
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, whose country chairs the Group of 20 major economies (G20) this year, is also participating in the meeting but remotely.
