German Foreign Minister Analena Berbok has been charged in connection with Wednesday. Russia that prevents them cereal exports from Ukraine because it uses hunger as a weapon.
“Russia is waging this war with another horrible and effective weapon: hunger and deprivation. “By launching a blockade of Ukrainian ports, destroying storage facilities, roads and railways, Russia has launched a war on grain, causing a global food crisis,” she said during a meeting with her US counterpart.
“It does so at a time when millions of people are already threatened with famine, especially in the Middle East and Africa, because of the devastating effects of the climate crisis, because of the new coronavirus pandemic, because of the raging conflicts in the region.”
According to Ms. Berbok, Russia is blocking the export of some 20 tons of grain from Ukraine, mainly to North African and Asian countries. Much of this quantity is blocked in the port of Odessa.
Ukraine – like Russia – is one of them largest cereal producers worldwide. The two countries together account for almost a third of world wheat and barley production and half of world sunflower oil production.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has stressed the importance of exporting grain, other foodstuffs and fertilizers produced by Ukraine, Russia and Belarus.
Otherwise, the war in Ukraine could lead to millions of people in food insecurity and cause a “crisis that could last for years,” he warned.
The spread of hunger has already reached a world record due to the pandemic of the new coronavirus, according to the UN.
“In just two years, the number of people experiencing acute food insecurity has doubled from 135 million before the pandemic broke out to 276 million today,” Guterres said.
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