Ukraine must not only hold and push back the Russian invasion on the eastern front, but also recapture the Crimean peninsula from the Russians.
For this, Kyiv needs much more modern Western military support, such as tanks and drones, and the blockade of grain exports through the Black Sea ports must also be lifted. This is the first time that the retaking of Crimea has been mentioned as a military-strategic goal.
This plea was made by Ukrainian President Zelensky and agricultural ministers at the annual meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO), and in discussions with EU ministers and politicians. The Agriculture Committee of the European Parliament discussed the export situation with Ukrainian Deputy Minister Markian Dmytrasevych.
The number of sown fields in Ukraine has decreased by a quarter since Russia's invasion. The harvest is expected to be sufficient for domestic needs but not for export. The decline is due not only to fighting in parts of the country but also because Russia is blocking the ports.
As a result, many storage facilities are still full of grain that has not been shipped, leaving no space for storing summer harvests. Therefore, many Ukrainian farmers are planting fewer export-oriented crops and opting for (for example) soybeans.
Harvesting will begin in July and a shortage of storage facilities will arise. There is still approximately 10 million tons of storage capacity in occupied Ukrainian territories. "We will not be able to store this year’s harvest anywhere, and farmers cannot sell their products. They will also receive no money," Deputy Minister Markian Dmytrasevych told Euractiv earlier this week.
"We have plans such as temporary storage: the so-called plastic bags that can hold 200,000 tons. The second option is foreign technology: temporary silos. Roughly, this consists of a floor on the ground to prevent moisture ingress, with a tent over it. We are now actively cooperating with the US, Canada, and other partners who have this technology," the deputy minister said.
German Chancellor Scholz is yet to confirm that he will travel to Kyiv on Thursday with French President Emmanuel Macron and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi. Especially in the German media, there is much speculation about the visit of the three largest EU countries to Zelensky.
This mainly concerns the possible candidate membership of Ukraine in the European Union. A decision on this will most likely be made during the EU summit next week in Brussels.