KYIV (Reuters) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday he had instructed his government to set up a supply mechanism to deliver food to Syria with international organizations and partners following the fall of President Bashar Assad.
Ukraine has been one of the world’s largest exporters of grains and oilseeds and has been exporting wheat and corn to Middle Eastern countries but not to Syria.
Syria imported grain from Russia during the Assad era, but Russian wheat supplies have been suspended due to uncertainty and payment delays, Russian and Syrian sources said on Friday.
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Zelensky wrote on
“I have directed the government to work with international organizations and partners who can help to establish food supply mechanisms.”
Ukraine’s exports were hit by Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, which resulted in a severe reduction in exports through the Black Sea. Ukraine has since broken a de facto naval blockade and resumed exports from the southern port of Odessa.
(Reporting by Tom Balmforth in Kyiv; Additional reporting and writing by Lydia Kelly in Melbourne; Editing by Sandra Mahler)
