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The issue of food security will be one of the main issues at the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland. And Ukraine has good allies in this matter. Among them are the countries of the global South, which receive Ukrainian grain under food programs, and China, which is the first consumer of Ukrainian grain in terms of volume, and transnational corporations that grow and sell it. Expert of the Ukrainian Institute of the Future Igor Popov said this on the FREEDOM TV channel.
“Of course, the communiqués and speeches [at the Global Peace Summit] will talk about details: how to ensure food security. On the Ukrainian side, the activities of the working groups were coordinated and continue to be coordinated by Yulia Sviridenko, First Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy. She also attended meetings with advisers to heads of state and government. What, as far as I understand, has been developed? This is freedom of navigation in the Black and Azov Seas, demining the fairway, preventing shelling of dry cargo ships that transport it all, preventing shelling of port infrastructure, additional strengthening of Ukraine’s capabilities for the military protection of its own port infrastructure and fairway. This is a reduction in the cost of insurance and freight, because now there is export, but it is expensive, because insurance companies charge a large premium for risk,” said the broadcast guest.
The implementation of this set of measures, as Popov emphasized, requires the involvement of partners, pressure on the Russian Federation, and the inclusion of international organizations such as the United Nations. As for the countries of the global South, in his opinion, Russia does not have the resources to make meaningful proposals for them, and the relationship between the Russian Federation and Africa is precisely “about money, not about love.”
“After all, the Soviet Union was selling an idea, an ideology, a long-term partnership and the construction of a new social model. Now all this is gone. And therefore Russia may offer to write off old loans, or may offer to provide some new funds. Although the economy of the Russian Federation itself is not in a position to distribute money left and right,” says Popov.
He also emphasized that the “anti-summit” – a meeting of the foreign ministers of the BRICS countries in Moscow, with which the Russian Federation is trying to interrupt the Global Peace Summit, is much smaller in scale than the event in Switzerland.
“Yes, there may be 15 delegations, but this is not comparable to the scale of the world summit. As for China, Ukraine continues to work with the Chinese side. We hope for representation [at the Global Peace Summit] at least at the level of Special Representative Li Hui, because [Chinese Foreign Minister] Wang Yi will probably be in Moscow at that time,” added Igor Popov.
Read also: Hungary blocked EU decision to start accession talks with Ukraine in June
Let us recall that earlier political scientist Volodymyr Fesenko said on FREEDOM that Ukraine seeks to unite as many countries as possible around its peace formula at the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland. Russia’s negative reaction only underscores the importance of such a strategy.
