On 26 November, President of Latvia Egils Levits took part in the online ceremony for the launch of ‘Grain from Ukraine’ programme initiated by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy. ‘Despite brutal and unfair war waged by Russia against Ukraine, Ukrainians have managed to grow crops and find ways to ship food to poor world countries that suffer from shortage of food. Initiative launched by Ukraine today confirms that access to food is a human right, not a privilege,’ said President Levits to other world leaders.
26 November is also a Holodomor Remembrance Day when people pay tribute to victims of Holodomor tragedy, a man-made famine engineered by Stalin in 1932–1933 in Ukraine. ‘Unfortunately, 90 years later we are witnessing Russia commit crimes against Ukrainians again. We are witnessing weaponizing of food again – use of famine to blackmail people. It is our duty to let the world know the truth and remind of the tragedy it can lead to,’ President of Latvia said about Holodomor.
President of Latvia confirmed that Europe and its Transatlantic partners will continue to provide Ukraine help as long as necessary. ‘Russia’s continues targeted attacks on civilian infrastructure to damage the power lines and cause blackouts, heating and food supply disruptions. Russia continues to mislead and spread war propaganda, also regarding access to food. Russia keeps using inhumane means devise by Soviet Union. Russia has shown its weakness by using terrorism to undermine our unity,’ Egils Levits underlined.
After ceremony, a joint statement of world leaders about humanitarian aid programme ‘Grain from Ukraine’, a framework for supply of Ukrainian-grown food to Africa and Asia that are currently worse off in terms of famine, was circulated.