Status: 06/10/2022 12:28 p.m
Agriculture Minister Özdemir and Health Minister Lauterbach traveled to Ukraine for talks. Özdemir pledged support to Ukrainian farmers during his visit to Kyiv. Lauterbach wants to offer more medical help.
Federal Agriculture Minister Cem Özdemir met his counterpart Mykola Solskyj in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv for talks. Özdemir will talk to Solskyj about global food security, among other things, a ministry spokesman said. For this one is looking for safe ways for agricultural exports, it said. Germany is also committed to allowing Ukrainian grain exports in other ways, as usual exports via Black Sea ports are blocked for the time being.
The Greens politician then wants to visit farms to get an idea of the situation on the farms and the current needs of the Ukrainian agricultural sector. “We want to talk about how we can help Ukrainian agriculture, but of course it’s also about showing solidarity,” said Özdemir.
“Farmers do superhuman things”
Before his trip, Özdemir told the “Rheinische Post” that his visit was “about the recognition of Ukrainian farmers. They do superhuman things by defending their land and at the same time ensuring that Ukraine and the world are supplied with food “. Personally, it is important to him to show solidarity with the Ukrainians in difficult times. Özdemir said it was necessary to ensure that Ukraine regained its footing as quickly as possible after the war.
“The fight that the people of Ukraine are fighting, they are fighting on behalf of all the people in the world who believe in democracy, in human rights and do not believe that the future will be determined by authoritarian rulers like Mr. Putin,” added the Green politicians added. “And then, of course, it’s also about showing that Ukraine is alive, Ukraine will live.”
The war has led to tight global agricultural markets and rising prices, and is also raising concerns about food security in some countries. Because Ukraine is a major exporter of wheat, among other things, mainly to North Africa and Asia. According to the government in Kyiv, more than 23 million tons of grain and oilseeds cannot be exported due to blockades of Black Sea ports by Russia.
Lauterbach promises help
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach (SPD) also traveled to Ukraine, to Lviv in the west of the country. There he promised Ukraine support in caring for the seriously injured. “Ukraine needs humanitarian aid just as urgently as our military support,” Lauterbach said, according to a statement from his ministry. Lauterbach was received by his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Ljaschko.
During his visit, the minister also took part in a donor conference to set up a rehabilitation center for war invalids. He also wanted to visit several hospitals. The aim is to support Ukraine in setting up trauma centers for the injured, in providing prostheses and in deploying German doctors.
“Children step on mines and lose limbs,” the minister explained. “Apartment blocks are being shelled, and innocent civilians and children are also seriously injured. The humanitarian consequences of this barbaric war of aggression against the people of Ukraine are immeasurable.” That is why Germany is also providing targeted help with healthcare for people “who have suffered severe burns, lost their legs or arms and who need important medication”.
Federal Health Minister Karl Lauterbach and his delegation meet with the Ukrainian Health Minister Viktor Lyashko and his staff
Image: picture alliance / photothek
Fighting in Seyerodonetsk continues
Meanwhile, fierce fighting in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine continues. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke of some positive news from the south-eastern Zaporizhia region in his evening video message yesterday. There, Ukrainian forces managed to fend off Russian troops. In addition, the Ukrainian military is advancing in the Kharkiv region. One focus of the fighting is still in the city of Sievjerodonetsk. There, Ukrainian and Russian soldiers are engaged in bitter house-to-house fighting.
The Ukrainian army is also to further fortify the neighboring city of Lysychansk. The region is the last part of the Luhansk region not yet controlled by Russia.
Shaded in white: advance of the Russian army. Shaded in green: Russian-backed separatist areas. Crimea: annexed by Russia.
Image: ISW/09.06.2022
conflicting parties as a source
Information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian conflict parties cannot be directly checked by an independent body in the current situation.