:format(webp)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/grupoclarin/LOGPIXTOJNESJOEXQVXG6HUG5Q.jpg "Pakistan and Ukraine call for grain initiative to be restored after Russia ended it")
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Ukraine and Pakistan called Thursday for the Black Sea Grain Initiative to be restored to ensure global food security, days after Russia ended the deal that had allowed the flow of grain from Ukraine.
The foreign ministers of Ukraine and Pakistan made the request at a press conference held after the Ukrainian minister, Dmytro Kuleba, met his Pakistani counterpart, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, after arriving on his first visit to the Islamic nation.
Kuleba also met Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, according to a government statement. It quoted Sharif as saying the Ukraine conflict has had a significant global impact, hurting the economies of many countries.
Kuleba briefed Sharif on the current situation in Ukraine, recalling that their countries have always maintained cordial and long-standing relations based on cooperation and friendship with the common goal of contributing to world peace and regional stability.
Pakistan has been a regular importer of wheat from kyiv in recent years, up to 1 million tonnes in 2021 according to Kuleba’s estimates. The grain deal, negotiated in July 2022 between Turkey, the UN and Russia, had allowed the flow of grain to countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, where hunger is a growing threat and high food prices have pushed more people into poverty.
Russia announced on Monday that it was withdrawing from the deal, and on Wednesday, Russian strikes on Ukraine’s southern port areas destroyed some of its critical grain export infrastructure, as well as 60,000 tons of grain that had been destined for China.
Kuleba told the news conference that the Russian attacks mean “60,000 tons of grain will never reach people who want to buy bread at a reasonable price and while prices are going up.”