“Not only has Russia engaged in completely illegal aggression against Ukraine, but it is also using food as a weapon of war, with all the consequences that this may have in the European Union and in the least developed countries”, declared the Spanish Minister for Agriculture, Luis Planas, in Vigo on Tuesday 18 July.
The minister was responding to a question from the press on the sidelines of the informal meeting of EU fisheries ministers about Russia’s decision to terminate the international agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain (see EUROPE 13224/8).
French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that Russian President Vladimir Putin had made “a huge mistake” by using food as a weapon. “We can see very clearly that Russia has decided (...) to starve countries that are already in difficulty”, he insisted.
Mr Planas pointed out that the poorest countries are the main buyers of Ukrainian grain. He expressed the hope that the parties involved would manage to find a solution so that Ukrainian grain could be exported.
In a statement issued on Monday evening, the EU condemned Russia’s decision to terminate the Black Sea Grain Initiative. “Russia must cease illegally blocking Ukrainian sea ports and allow freedom of navigation on the Black Sea”, according to the EU. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)