Before the UN Security Council, Russia was accused on Tuesday of provoking a “global food crisis” or even putting people at risk of “starvation” by waging war against Ukraine, the “European breadbasket of wheat”.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin started this war. He created a global food crisis. And he’s the one who can stop that,” said US number two Wendy Sherman during the Security Council meeting dedicated to the humanitarian situation in Ukraine.
For the Deputy Secretary of State, “Only Russia and President Putin bear the responsibility for waging war on Ukraine and the consequences of this war on global food security.”
French Ambassador to the United Nations Nicolas de Riviere made the point: “Russian aggression against Ukraine increases the risk of starvation worldwide. People in developing countries are the first to be affected.”
The French diplomat stressed that “Russia will certainly try to make us believe that it is the sanctions that have been adopted against it that lead to an imbalance in global food security.”
Indeed, his Russian counterpart Vasily Nebenzia responded: “The real causes of serious disruptions in world food markets are in no way due to the actions of Russia, but rather to the sheer hysteria of sanctions unleashed by the West against Moscow. .
However, Joyce Msuya, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, warned that the conflict in Ukraine “threatens to make matters worse for the biggest humanitarian crises on the planet, as in Afghanistan, Yemen and the Horn of Africa.”
“These countries are already struggling against food insecurity, the fragility of their economies, and the increase in food, fuel and fertilizer prices that will severely impact current and future seasons,” the Tanzanian warned.
World Food Program Administrator David Beasley and Wendy Sherman noted that Ukraine and Russia were “major producers” of grain, accounting for “30% of world wheat exports, 20% of world corn, and 75% of sunflower oil.”
“50 percent of the grain we buy comes from Ukraine and we fed 125 million people” before the war, Beasley said, warning of the “devastating” impact of the crisis on WFP’s operations.
On Friday, the 27 countries of the European Union announced an initiative to alleviate food shortages caused by the war. The European Union and the United States want a multilateral commitment against export restrictions on agricultural raw materials.
Cereal shortages are likely to cause food riots in the MENA region. Egypt, Turkey, Bangladesh and Nigeria, which are highly populated countries, are the main importers of grain from Russia and Ukraine.
