On June 19, the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine held a meeting with the Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP), Cindy McCain, who was visiting Ukraine for the first time in her current capacity.

First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Sergiy Kyslytsya praised the dynamic development of the partnership between Ukraine and WFP in the face of unprecedented humanitarian challenges. He expressed his sincere gratitude to Ms. McCain for her leadership and strong support, emphasizing that the Programme's activities play a key role in saving lives, supporting vulnerable populations and strengthening the resilience of Ukrainian communities in times of war.

Sergiy Kyslytsya also praised WFP's active participation in the international initiative of the President of Ukraine “Grain from Ukraine”. Since 2022, with the support of WFP, Ukrainian agricultural products have already been delivered to 15 countries, including Syria, Palestine, Yemen and a number of African countries, which has helped more than 11 million people.

Moreover, the First Deputy Minister emphasized that Ukraine's humanitarian potential in combating global hunger goes far beyond the supply of raw agricultural products and should be further developed, particularly by involving Ukrainian producers in systemic food procurement and processing programmes.

In his turn, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food of Ukraine, Vitaliy Koval noted the practical value of WFP's assistance to communities in the affected regions and emphasized the importance of expanding cooperation in the areas of agro-processing and sustainable food systems. He called for support for government initiatives aimed at strengthening the capacity of Ukrainian agricultural business, as well as for continued joint work to expand exports of processed food products from Ukraine, including through cooperation with WFP.

WFP Executive Director Cindy McCain reaffirmed WFP's continued support for Ukraine, emphasizing that one of the important priorities of WFP's project activities in Ukraine will be to support the further implementation of the School Meals Programme in Ukraine, especially under conditions of martial law.

To date, WFP's operational spending on Ukraine-related projects the volume of WFP operations in projects related to Ukraine since the beginning of Russia's full-scale military aggression has already amounted to $1.16 billion.

In this regard, the parties positively noted the adoption of the WFP Interim Strategic Plan for Ukraine for 2025-2027, which provides for additional mobilization of international resources at the level of USD 2.1 billion for further implementation of both humanitarian and recovery initiatives in our country.

Particular attention during the talks was paid to humanitarian demining, focusing on agricultural land as a key factor in restoring food security.

At the conclusion, the parties agreed to strengthen cooperation, in particular through coordination between UN agencies based in Rome, to maximize support for Ukraine in its reconstruction and ensuring sustainability.