Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba visited Islamabad, where he enlisted the support of Pakistan to preserve the export of Ukrainian grain by the Black Sea.

According to the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, this was the first official visit of the Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine to Pakistan in the history of bilateral relations.

Kuleba was received by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and held talks with Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.

The heads of Ukrainian and Pakistani diplomacy discussed threats to global food security against the background of Russia's withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

"Thanks to the export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea, since July 2022, world prices for flour have fallen by almost 20%. At the same time, Russia's withdrawal from the grain deal will lead to a significant increase in food prices, particularly in Asia. Millions of lives around the world have become hostages of the ‘Hunger Games of The Kremlin. We must unite our efforts to prevent Russia from using food as a weapon," Kuleba stressed.

The minister thanked Pakistan for its readiness to join international efforts to resume the Black Sea Grain Initiative and search for a solution that will allow the export of Ukrainian grain from Ukrainian ports to continue.

The Foreign Ministers also discussed steps to enhance bilateral cooperation. They agreed to hold political consultations of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs in the near future and accelerate the preparation of the inaugural meeting of the Ukrainian-Pakistani Commission for Economic Cooperation.

"Ukraine is interested in increasing the volume of bilateral trade, creating mutually beneficial projects in the field of digitalization of public services, engineering and agriculture, as well as deepening cooperation in the field of education," the Ukrainian minister said.