Kyiv, Ukraine —
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced Sunday that he would provide Syria with grain and other agricultural products on a humanitarian basis, a week after the fall of Moscow’s ally, President Bashar al-Assad.
“Now we can help the Syrians with our wheat, flour and oil: our products that are used globally to ensure food security,” he said in his daily address.
“We are coordinating with our partners and the Syrian side to resolve logistical issues. We will support this region so that stability there becomes a foundation for our movement towards real peace,” Zelenskyy added.
According to him, these possible deliveries will be part of the “Grain of Ukraine” program, launched in 2022 to provide food aid to the poorest countries.
Even at war, Ukraine, one of the world’s largest producers of grain, retains immense production capacities.
And despite Moscow’s threats to shoot ships sailing in the Black Sea, Kyiv has set up a corridor there to export its agricultural products from the summer of 2023.
After an 11-day offensive, the rebel coalition dominated by the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) on Dec. 8 overthrew Assad, who took refuge in Russia.
The fall was a serious setback for Moscow, which, along with Iran, was the former Syrian president’s main ally and had been intervening militarily in Syria since 2015.
