The debilitating grain blockade on the Black Sea must be lifted, and Ukraine has requested Boris Johnson to negotiate directly with “pariah” Vladimir Putin, it was revealed today.

The Russian naval blockade off the coast of Ukraine cannot be broken by NATO ships, so the Ukrainians want the UK to use its diplomatic heavy hitters in its place.

Due to Russian ships blocking their export routes, more than 25 million tonnes of grain—which helps feed over half a billion people worldwide—are currently stranded in the war-torn country.

A month is all that is left to stop the wholesale rotting of this year’s harvest, according to Ukrainian MP Alex Goncharenko, who represents the besieged port of Odessa.

He also asserts that Britain is in a unique position to pressure Russia and Turkey into agreeing to reopen the economic channels.

He wants the UK to assist in negotiating a new agreement that will allow grain to exit the Black Sea through Turkey’s Bosphorus Strait.

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