Director of the Lev agricultural firm Vitalii Lupynos wears a bulletproof vest during crop sowing, 30 kilometers from the front line in the Zaporizhzhia Region of southeastern Ukraine, April 8, 2020. (Photo: CFP)

The Group of Seven rich nations told Russia on Monday it must allow grain shipments to leave Ukraine to avoid exacerbating a global food crisis.

"We urgently call on Russia to cease, without condition, its attacks on agricultural and transport infrastructure and enable free passage of agricultural shipping from Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea," G7 leaders said in a joint statement at a summit in Germany.