Germany's Baerbock: Setting up transport routes for Ukraine's grain key priority

BERLIN, June 24 (Reuters) - Setting up reliable transport routes for grain from Ukraine is top priority to prevent a global food crisis and will be a main topic at Friday's global food conference, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said.

Ukraine is being blackmailed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, and therefore it is necessary to develop new transport routes for the long term, said Agricultural Minister Cem Oezdemir at a joint news conference on Friday.

Germany will spend 4 billion euros ($4.2 billion) this year to combat hunger globally, said Development Minister Svenja Schulze. ($1 = 0.9486 euros) (Reporting by Kirsti Knolle, Editing by Miranda Murray)