The G7 Agriculture Ministers signed a declaration on Friday 11 March committing themselves to keeping agricultural markets open and supporting food supplies in Ukraine, in the context of the war unleashed by Russia.
The extraordinary meeting was convened by Germany, which holds the presidency of the G7 (Germany, France, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Italy and Japan), to discuss measures to ensure global food security.
“The G7 declares its full solidarity with Ukraine - helping it is our top priority”, said German Minister Cem Özdemir.
The ministers also agreed to work towards stabilising international food markets and avoiding restrictions on food exports, he added.
The G7 Agriculture Ministers from Germany invited Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Roman Leshchenko, EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski and representatives of international organisations to the meeting by video conference.
“We call on all countries to keep their food and agricultural markets open and to guard against any unjustified restrictive measures on their exports. Any further increase in food price levels and volatility in international markets could threaten food security”, reads the statement (https://aeur.eu/f/qd ).
However, the G7 recognises the “extreme circumstances behind the export restrictions announced by the government of Ukraine”. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)