A two-day G7 Agriculture Ministers’ Meeting ended yesterday (April 23rd) with a communique that called for the “extension, full implementation and expansion” of a critical deal to export Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea.
The G7 is made up of Japan (current chair), France, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Canada and the European Union.
Japan News reported that the communique confirmed the strengthening of cooperation on food security to expand production as well as support for agricultural production in Ukraine. “We commit to promote policies that support sustainable productivity growth” to strengthen food security, the ministers’ communique read.
Against the backdrop of food supply instability caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and climate change, the communique included a policy to promote expansion of production by using existing domestic resources effectively, stating that G7 members will aim to “achieve sufficient and sustainable production in the medium and long term to feed the growing global population.”
Reuters reports that the deal to export grain from Ukraine was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey and was signed in Istanbul last July. This allowed Ukraine to export more than 27 million tonnes of grain from several of its Black Sea ports.
Russia has strongly signalled that it will not allow the deal to continue beyond May 18 because a list of demands to facilitate its own grain and fertilizer exports has not been met.
In the communique after the meeting in Miyazaki, Japan, the G7 said, “We condemn Russia’s attempts to use food as a means of destabilisation and as tool of geopolitical coercion and reiterate our commitment to acting in solidarity and supporting those most affected by Russia’s weaponisation of food.”
Japan News says that G7 members “stand ready” to support recovery and reconstruction of Ukraine, including by providing expertise in de-mining of agricultural land and reconstruction of agricultural infrastructure, the document said.
Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, is scheduled to discuss the Ukraine Black Sea grain export deal with U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in New York this week.