On 17 July, Russia has withdrawn from the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI), endangering global food security and blackmailing the whole world.

By refusing to extend its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Russia puts millions of people around the world at risk of hunger and provokes rising food prices.

Thanks to the grain initiative, almost 33 million tons of agricultural products were exported to 45 countries.

Sixty percent of the volumes went to the countries of Africa and Asia, in particular, these are Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia, and Sudan.

Among other destinations are China, India, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Pakistan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen.

Thanks to the Black Sea Grain Initiative, more than half of the global supply by the United Nations World Food Program has been covered by Ukrainian grain.

Thanks to the initiative, grain prices around the world were stabilized.

In June 2023, they were 23.4% lower than in March 2022, when Russia started the illegal blockade of our seaports.

This is why the Ukrainian grain matters for the global market.

Ukraine is doing everything possible to preserve the BSGI. President Zelenskyy has sent official letters to President of Türkiye Recep Erdoğan and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres with a proposal to continue the BSGI or its analog in a trilateral format. Ukraine, the UN and Türkiye have enough resources to ensure the functioning of the BSGI if there is political will.

We urge the international community to take a principled stance and join Ukraine's efforts to save vital grain exports to the world.

We call on all UN member states to firmly demand that Russia resume its participation in the BSGI and keep politics out of global food security.