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Boris Johnson: We're working on getting Ukraine's grain out
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday (June 28) that G7 leaders are working on finding a way of letting Ukraine export its grain.
"We're working on it, we're all working on it," he said at the start of a five-way meeting with France's Emmanuel Macron, Italy's Mario Draghi, Germany's Olaf Scholz and the U.S.'s Joe Biden, when asked if they were going to get the grain out of Ukraine.
Ukraine's bulk grain exports are being hindered by a Russian blockade of its Black Sea ports, forcing exporters to use less efficient land routes.
There's mounting evidence that Russian forces in occupied areas of Ukraine have been systematically stealing grain and other produce from local farmers, the BBC reported.
The BBC tried to contact more than 200 farmers whose land is now in Russian-occupied territory.
One farmer told the BBC that Russian forces now occupy 80% of the tens of thousands of hectares he farms and accuses them of stealing grain on an industrial scale.
Kremlin says sanctions must be lifted for Russian grain to reach markets
He said: "They stole our grain. They destroyed our premises, destroyed our equipment."
Grain trucks were stolen and Dmytro says a couple of them had GPS trackers fitted.
The BBC were able to use this data to see they had gone south into Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, and then on to Russia.
Africa to face 'very serious' famine if wheat problem not solved
Ukraine produces about a fifth of the world's high-grade wheat and 7 percent of all wheat.
Ukraine is the world's fifth-largest exporter of wheat, fourth-largest exporter of corn and top exporter of sunflower oil and meal, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data
levantnews-agencies
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