On Tuesday, November 15th, 2022, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Ukrainian President, addressed world leaders at the G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia. In his speech, he urged the leaders to end the ongoing war between Russia and his country. He addressed the leaders via video, pleading that there be an extension of the grain export deal, which is about to expire. Vladimir Putin, the Russian President, did not attend the event, instead sending Sergei Lavrov, his Foreign Minister.
In his address, Zelenskyy said he is “convinced that now is the time when the destructive Russian war must and can be stopped.” Throughout his speech, he addressed the leaders repeatedly as the “G19,” which was a blatant exclusion of Russia from the group.
Representatives of the United Nations said that about 10 million tonnes of grain plus other foods had been exported successfully since the Black Sea Grain Deal began in July. The deal was struck between Russia and the United Nations to ensure that food exports that Russian troops had blocked at Ukrainian ports could be safely shipped out. They said this has helped tame the ongoing global food crisis, but it expires on November 19.
When addressing energy and food security, Zelenskyy urged the leaders present to indefinitely extend the deal, “no matter when the war ends.” In a line supporting this, Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, had, in his opening remarks, urged the leaders to come up with ways to prevent global famine and hunger.
Zelenskyy said that everyone had the right to get food after proposing the expansion of the deal to the other ports found in the Mykolaiv region. In addition, Zelenskyy spoke of strategies to ensure the hostilities end and the escalation of the crisis prevented.
Last Saturday(11/12/22), Russia said there still needed to be an agreement to extend the deal. The Russians had insisted that, in exchange for their allowing Ukrainian exchanges, they be freed of sanctions from Western countries so that they could export, without hinderance, their food, and fertilizer.
