On Tuesday, Russia was accused before the United Nations Security Council of causing a “global food crisis” and putting people at risk of “famine” by starting the war in Ukraine, which serves as a breadbasket for Europe.
Vladimir Putin, President of Russia “began this war Vladimir Putin is to blame for the global food crisis. And he is the only one who can put a stop to it “During a Security Council meeting devoted to the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman stated.
“The sole responsibility for waging war on Ukraine – and for the war’s effects on global food security – rests with Russia and President Putin,” she said.
France’s UN ambassador, Nicolas de Riviere, went on to say that “Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is increasing the risk of famine around the world,” and that developing-country populations would be the first to suffer.
“Russia will no doubt try to persuade us that it is the sanctions imposed on it that are causing an imbalance in the global food security situation,” de Riviere added.
Indeed, Moscow’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia countered that potential turbulence in the global food market was caused by “the unbridled sanctions hysteria unleashed by the West against Russia.”
Sherman and the World Food Program’s (WFP) director, David Beasley, reported that Ukraine and Russia, both major cereal producers, account for 30% of global wheat exports, 20% of global corn exports, and 75% of global sunflower oil exports.
The European Union announced an initiative to alleviate food shortages caused by the war on Friday. The EU and the US want a multilateral commitment to end restrictions on agricultural raw material exports.
The conflict in Ukraine, according to UN Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Joyce Msuya, “threatens to worsen things in the world’s biggest humanitarian crises, such as Afghanistan, Yemen, and the Horn of Africa,” where food insecurity is already a problem.