European Union leaders expressed hope, on Tuesday 31 May, after their meeting in Brussels, that the Russian blockade of the port of Odessa would soon be lifted to allow Ukrainian grain exports.
In the text of the conclusions, the European Council calls on Russia to lift the blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports and to allow food exports. It recalls that the EU is taking measures to “facilitate Ukraine’s agricultural exports and to support Ukraine’s agricultural sector in view of the 2022 season”.
A UN framework for operations. French President Emmanuel Macron announced that he has proposed to Vladimir Putin that a resolution be passed at the United Nations to allow these operations to deliver Ukrainian grain to countries suffering from food shortages.
“I proposed in the discussion we had with (German Chancellor) Olaf Scholz last Saturday to President Putin that we take the initiative for a resolution at the United Nations to give a very clear framework to this operation”, he said in response to a question from the press.
As Russia imposes a blockade on Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea, particularly the port of Odessa, Ukraine is desperate to export the 20 million tonnes of grain stored in the country’s silos before the next harvest this summer, which will in turn need to be stored.
“The decision depends on Russia’s agreement and the guarantees it provides regarding the demining (of the port of Odessa), which is essential for bulk carriers and ships to be able to take on these grains. [We need] security guarantees for the Ukrainians to prevent them from being attacked”, Macron insisted.
Kyiv needs “legitimate security guarantees, it is the UN framework that will allow us to do this”, the French President added, also stressing “the very important role of Turkey, given its responsibility in the Black Sea” and its recent exchanges with Moscow.
“It is out of the question that, under the guise of a maritime corridor for humanitarian reasons, there should be a weakening of the security situation in Ukraine”, said Charles Michel, President of the European Council.
In the immediate future, the European Commission has also proposed to set up ‘Solidarity Lanes’ by road and rail, mobilising EU freight capacity, to move some of the blocked cereal stocks (see EUROPE 12951/4).
“We are working on this Commission proposal and discussed at the summit the different possibilities for alternative routes. But it’s complicated, for logistical reasons, and it’s more expensive”, Michel said.
These alternative rail and road routes would at best allow for the transport of a third of the wheat stocks, according to a European official.
EU leaders also stressed the need for fertilisers for grain production from Ukraine.
The Italian Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, confirmed that the UN had a “leadership role” to play in getting the Odessa and Black Sea ports opened. “As Putin told me on the phone, these ships must contain food and not weapons, so there will have to be a procedure to ensure this. These ports will have to be cleared of mines, and the Italian Navy can help”, he said.
The EU is also trying to organise the transport of these cereals by rail through Romania, Bulgaria and Poland. “It is easier, but the transport possibilities are much more limited. The Commission is working on this. The important thing is to move quickly because in a short time there will be the next harvest and if these silos are not emptied, there will be no room to store it”, concluded Draghi.
International coordination. In its conclusions, the European Council also calls for effective international coordination of all ongoing initiatives for a global response to the emerging food crisis in vulnerable countries, particularly in Africa (see EUROPE 12960/5).
The Senegalese President and current Chair of the African Union, Macky Sall, had been invited to speak by video conference “to identify how, together, we can cooperate to meet this challenge through support measures to increase production capacity”, said Michel (see EUROPE 12961/3). He also stressed the importance of avoiding a crisis that could “lead to serious tensions in Africa, with consequences in Europe”.
In a sign of the importance the EU attaches to the UN, Mr Michel is expected to meet UN Secretary-General António Guterres next week, possibly in New York, an EU source said.
Supporting Africa. In addition to the €200 million already committed to food security for the world’s most vulnerable populations, the European Development Fund reserve could be used to support sub-Saharan Africa, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. She announced that she would be “visiting Cairo in mid-June to discuss the food security event she plans to organise with Egyptian President al-Sissi” (see EUROPE 12959/2).
In his speech, Macky Sall recalled that before the war in Ukraine, 282 million undernourished people lived in Africa, according to the FAO, and that the price of fertiliser today has tripled compared to 2021.
“According to some estimates, cereal yields in Africa will fall by 20 to 50% this year”, he warned.
Pointing out that individual African countries are taking initiatives to increase agricultural production and that the African Development Bank has launched a $1.5 billion African Emergency Food Production Plan to produce 37.6 million tonnes of food crops, he said this would not be enough.
“In the immediate future, we want to see everything possible done to free up available grain stocks and ensure transport and market access in order to avoid the catastrophic scenario of shortages and widespread price hikes. This is where we seek the support of our partners”, the African Union chairperson continued.
He said he supports the UN mechanism to try to free grain blocked at the port of Odessa.
The AU Chair also expressed deep concern among African countries about the impact on trade of sanctions excluding Russian banks from the global SWIFT banking information system. “When the SWIFT system is disrupted, it means that even if the products exist, payment becomes complicated, if not impossible”, Mr Sall said.
Welcoming the Food and Agriculture Resilience Mission Initiative (FARM) (see EUROPE 12931/7) as “excellent”, he pleaded that “for the next steps, FARM should be more in line with a partnership and complementarity approach, because the continent has what it takes to feed itself and to help feed the planet”.
See the European Council conclusions: https://aeur.eu/f/1vu (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur and Aminata Niang)