During the summit in Japan, Oleksandr Kubrakov, Deputy Prime Minister for Restoration of Ukraine and Minister for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine, told his foreign colleagues about the challenges posed by russia's full-scale invasion to Ukrainian and global logistics.

"The open military invasion of Ukraine is forcing the world not only to rebuild its security architecture. russian terror is affecting every country in the world - through the economy, blocked logistics routes, restricted shipping and international trade. We need global solutions and a clear strategy of international support for the development of alternative logistics routes.

We already have something to show and offer our international partners. First of all, we have managed to turn the Danube Port Cluster into a powerful logistics hub in a short period of time. In addition, we already have a "transport visa-free regime" with the European Union and are developing road and rail border infrastructure on our western borders. The key here is the EU's Solidarity Lanes programme, which helps us to systematically increase our own logistics potential.

Ukraine needs political, financial, advisory and material support from its allies. The current situation cannot meet the demands of the global economy, and therefore investments in Ukrainian logistics are the only alternative for the world," said Kubrakov.

In particular, the Deputy Prime Minister said that as a result of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine's trade volumes decreased by almost 2 times - from 234 million tonnes in pre-war 2021 to 131 million tonnes in war 2022. In addition, the load on the western land borders has increased significantly.

"Until 24 February 2022, almost 60% of all trade passed through seaports, but now most of the exports and imports are transported by rail and trucks across our western border. This has also become a challenge for neighbouring countries. Blocking agricultural exports by land against the backdrop of an unstable grain corridor could result in a food catastrophe for the world.

We are already seeing many people in Africa and Asia facing hunger precisely because of russian sabotage of the Grain Initiative. The world has lost at least more than 20 million tonnes of agricultural products over the entire period of the agreement's existence," the Deputy Prime Minister added.

Oleksandr Kubrakov also thanked the G7 transport ministers for their assistance and stressed that further support in the development of logistics is critical for the stable functioning of the global economy.