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President Klaus Iohannis on Thursday, in Kyiv, condemned the use of grain exports by Russia as a weapon and called for the involvement of all relevant actors to agree on a 'coalition of states' to support the international effort to create 'blue corridors' for safe maritime transport across the Black Sea.
"We are now at the point where Russia has added another blackmail tool to its actions - grains. I strongly condemn the use of grain exports by Russia as a weapon, with such a major global impact. We discussed this today and possible solutions to overcome this situation. As a relevant part of the solution to the food insecurity situation generated by Russia, Romania actively participates in efforts to facilitate the transit of grain exports from Ukraine and acts as a regional hub for Ukrainian grains (...) Since the beginning of the Russian invasion, the Port of Constanta has provided more than a million tons of grain from Ukraine, and we are working to open new border checkpoints with Ukraine, as well as to rehabilitate wide gauge railways on the territory of Romania", said the head of state, at the joint conference with Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenski, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
Preparations for the reconstruction of Ukraine must begin, the Romanian president stressed.
"We all agree that the European Union has an important role to play in this endeavor, and we need to create effective tools for that," he said.
President Iohannis stressed that granting candidate status for accession to the European Union for Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia at next week's European Council is essential to building a "strong and lasting shield" around European values. AGERPRES
