Russia warns European countries of a possible food crisis at a time when inflation is rife.
A senior Russian diplomat on Wednesday demanded the lifting of sanctions against Moscow as a condition to avert a global food crisis due to the blocking of Ukrainian grain exports since the start of the Kremlin offensive. “Solving the food problem requires a coordinated approach, including the lifting of sanctions that have been introduced against Russian exports and financial transactions“said Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Roudenko, quoted by Russian news agencies.
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He also demandeddemining by kyiv» of the Black Sea ports so that the ships can export the cereals. To this effect, the diplomat asserted that Russia was “ready to ensure a humanitarian corridorto the boats. Renowned for its very fertile black soils, Ukraine was before the offensive the world’s fourth largest exporter of corn and on the way to becoming the third largest exporter of wheat. But the conflict has disrupted Ukrainian agricultural production and Russia is accused by kyiv and the West of preventing grain exports via the Black Sea, raising the risk of a serious global food crisis. On Tuesday evening, the Russian army accused the West of seeking “to get grain out of Ukraine as quickly as possible (…) without fear of what will happen in the country once the grain reserves run out“.
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