On Saturday 20 May, the heads of state and government of the G7 countries declared that they would continue to support Ukrainian agricultural exports, particularly in the framework of the EU/Ukraine ‘solidarity lanes’.
In this context, “we welcome the extension of the Black Sea Grains Initiative and call on Russia to stop threatening global food supplies and to allow the Initiative to reach its full potential”, according to the G7 statement on Ukraine.
The international agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea was extended for two months on 17 May. Signed last July in Istanbul between the United Nations, Ukraine, Russia and Turkey, it has enabled the export of more than 30 million tonnes of Ukrainian grain over the past ten months, thus alleviating the global food crisis caused by the war. It had previously been renewed on 19 March for 60 days.
In theory, the renewals are supposed to be valid for 120 days, but Russia insisted on a 60-day extension, demanding compliance with the other part of the agreement, which concerns its own agricultural exports, still hampered by the sanctions imposed by Western countries after the start of the Russian offensive against Ukraine in February 2022.
Link to the G7 press release: https://aeur.eu/f/6zo (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)