REUTERS, Kyiv

Canada will help Ukraine work out options on how to export stored grain to uphold global food security that has been shaken by Russia’s invasion of the country, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said late on Sunday.

Nearly 25 million tonnes of grains are stuck in Ukraine and unable to leave the country due to infrastructure challenges and blocked Black Sea ports including Mariupol, a UN food agency official said last week. Mariupol has endured the most destructive fighting of the 10-week war.

Food prices soared to record highs in March in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the world’s No 4 exporter of maize (corn) in the 2020/21 season and the No 6 wheat exporter. Prices eased slightly in April.

“We know people around the world are going to be starving because of the actions of Russia,” Trudeau told Reuters in an interview.

“There is grain waiting to be shipped in Ukraine. We have to make sure that Russia doesn’t prevent the grain that the world needs from getting out to the world.”

Since Moscow launched what it calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine in late February, the latter has been forced to export grain by train over its western border.

Kyiv has also been looking to use ports on the Danube river in the country’s south to help with exports.