Laura Ramanauskaitė, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, participated in the third edition of the "Grains from Ukraine" Summit in Kyiv. The event was moderated by the Minister of Agriculture of Ukraine, Vitaliy Koval, and attended by the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, the Commissioner for Agriculture of the European Union, Janusz Wojciechowski, as well as by the President of the Republic of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda, who spoke remotely along with representatives of other countries.

In her speech, Mrs Ramanauskaite highlighted the role of Ukraine in the context of global food security.

„A threatening reality requires adaptation to address the challenges of sustainable food systems, security and nutrition. Lithuania is actively seeking solutions to secure new logistics routes for Ukrainian products and strengthen their competitiveness on the global market. Cooperation with the United Kingdom is underway to develop a cereal origin verification scheme based on isotope research, which will be launched soon.

The Vice-Minister highlighted Lithuania's support to Ukraine and its efforts to combat unfair Russian grain trade practices. The Vice-Minister welcomed the Lithuanian Government's EUR 5 million support for the development of renewable energy sources in Ukraine. Ms Ramanauskaitė expressed Lithuania's unconditional support for Ukraine and pledged to help maintain the attention of the international community by highlighting Ukraine's indispensable role in supplying grain to countries lacking in agricultural raw materials. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky shared the main achievements of the food programme "Grains from Ukraine". The President stressed that the humanitarian aid of the programme has already saved 20 million people from hunger and that the Ukrainian products exported have fed 400 million people in 100 countries. He also thanked partner countries for their active support in the fight against Russian aggression and stressed the importance of togetherness at this critical time of war.

In his speech, the President of the Republic of Lithuania noted that Lithuania strongly supports Ukraine's efforts to maintain the Black Sea transport corridor. There is no other alternative to overcoming the Russian military threat than for Ukraine to regain full control of its land and sea.

In order to express their solidarity with Ukraine and to underline its importance in the context of food security, the representatives of the countries participating in the international conference issued a joint statement.

In the statement, the countries stressed that food can never be used as a weapon of war and that the martyrdom of civilians is prohibited by UN Security Council resolution. They also recalled that global food security depends on the continued protection of food supply chains. Finally, it was stressed that despite Russian aggression, which has destroyed 30% of Ukraine's agricultural potential and occupied 20% of its agricultural land, Ukraine remains an important partner of the UN World Food Programme and a key guarantor of global food security.

The first International Food Security Summit was held in Kyiv in November 2022, shortly after Russia launched a large-scale aggression against Ukraine. The "Grain from Ukraine" programme, initiated by President Zelensky, is supported by more than 30 countries and international organisations working to ensure that Ukrainian grain reaches food-insecure countries in Africa and Asia. The Government of Lithuania has contributed €2 million to this initiative in 2022 and 2023.