Draghi claims that sanctions have dealt a "hard blow" against Moscow during the OECD meeting

MADRID, 9 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has pointed out that the sanctions of the European Union have dealt a "hard blow" to Moscow during the opening ceremony of the ministerial meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in Paris , chaired this year by Italy.

"The G7 and the EU have shown extraordinary unity in supporting Ukraine and pressuring Moscow to cease hostilities and resume negotiations. The EU alone has drawn up six sanctions packages that have dealt a heavy blow to oligarchs close to the Kremlin. and to key sectors of the Russian economy," he said.

He also referred to the food crisis caused by the war in Ukraine, which has especially affected parts of Africa. "Our efforts to prevent a food crisis must start from the Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea," he stated, as reported by the newspaper 'La Stampa'.

For this reason, the Italian Prime Minister has indicated that guarantees must be offered to Ukraine that "the ports will not be attacked" in the face of a rise in energy and food prices that is "contributing to increasing the rate of inflation even in the richest countries.

The Italian Foreign Minister, Luigi di Maio, has also participated in the ministerial meeting and has co-chaired a session on the political and economic consequences of the Russian aggression after the COVID-19 pandemic, as reported by the Foreign Ministry in its official Twitter profile.

Likewise, the meeting was attended by the current president of the African Union, the Senegalese Macky Sall, to promote and strengthen the relationship with Africa in the framework of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The meeting, which will end this Friday, is chaired by Italy, with Norway and Mexico as vice-presidents, and focuses on the theme 'The future we want: better policies for the next generation and a sustainable transition'.

For his part, the President of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelensky, has called this Thursday in a recorded speech during the OECD meeting for the exclusion of Russia from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), according to what is read. a statement from the Presidency.

"What does Russia have to do there if it is working to starve at least four hundred million and at most more than a billion people?" the Ukrainian president replied, adding that "all instruments of pressure must continue about Russia".

This includes, according to Zelensky, international organizations and also all countries. "The world must remove everything that hinders cooperation and development, and Russian aggression is the first key obstacle, the first key threat," he said.

The Ukrainian president, who welcomed the opening of an OECD office in kyiv, also explained that "long-term security guarantees" are needed to ensure energy security in Europe and to "replace Russian fossil fuels."

"The Black Sea, which is one of the key routes for food exports, is blocked by the Russian Navy. Hundreds of millions of people on different continents are on the verge of at least food shortages and at most famine. , for which Russia will be fully responsible," he recalled.