Members of the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee meet with with Roman LESHCHENKO, Ukraine’s Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food, to debate the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the farming sector.

EU - Ukraine (T)

exchange of views

Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development

Agriculture (T2)

food security (T)

EP Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development - Exchange of views with Roman LESHCHENKO, Ukrainian Minister for Agriculture on the farming sector: extracts

SOUNDBITE (English), Roman LESHCHENKO, Ukrainian Minister for Agriculture, Today, Europe is at war again. Today we have a war, full scale, brutal. And a cruel invasion on the territory of Ukraine. The breadbasket best of Europe proved guarantor of global food security.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roman LESHCHENKO, Ukrainian Minister for Agriculture, We can look at the prices, check goods availability and we see that the situation is rapidly changing, because Ukraine as a food supplier guarantee the best quality of production to European market with sunflower oil, with meat, with milk, with service and what we need for stable development.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roman LESHCHENKO, Ukrainian Minister for Agriculture, Help us, Ukrainian children, help Ukrainian people and stop any kind of cooperation with Russia. It was their companies that financed Russian army. Now, it's time for everyone to pick which side to be on.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roman LESHCHENKO, Ukrainian Minister for Agriculture, We have to provide more than 400 million people around the world with the food. They are now literally on the verge of starvation and survival.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roman LESHCHENKO, Ukrainian Minister for Agriculture, At the same time, brave Ukrainian farmers are starting a sowing campaign in the moment where they can. They are sowing under heavy shelling and in dangerous, occupied and mined areas under the risk of losing their lives.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roman LESHCHENKO, Ukrainian Minister for Agriculture, We must do everything possible to advert a huricane of hunger and meltdown of the global food system. Also, I would like to ask you to consider the opportunity to organize this so-called green corridor to this shipments passing European Union borders as a transit.

SOUNDBITE (English), Roman LESHCHENKO, Ukrainian Minister for Agriculture, I would like to thank everyone who stands with Ukraine and our people. Let's achieve our common victory. I know that the victory will be with us in a very short period of time. But, today, agriculture for Ukrainian economy, this is the locomotive. This is the basic, basic industry that give many Ukrainian people to have job to survive and to move to the future.