Amid concerns about the world food crisis due to the war in Ukraine, Russia said Thursday (19) that it would condition the opening of Black Sea ports on the lifting of Western sanctions.

According to Andrei Rudenko, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister quoted by Interfax, the main cause of the current food crisis is “penalties imposed on Russia by the United States and the European Union that interfere with normal free trade, which covers food products, including wheat, fertilizers and others”. .

“It is necessary not only to apply to the Russian Federation, but also to analyze in depth all the complex causes that led to the current food crisis.” “…

Responding to a question from Interfax’s World Food Program (WFP) Executive Director David Beasly about a call for Russia to open access to Ukrainian ports to enable grain production, Rudenko said that “it takes a close look at the whole set” to address the food crisis. provocative reasons”.

Earlier this week, Russian government spokesman Dmitri Peskov said that the Kremlin did not impose any restrictions and did not need to review anything. “The restrictions imposed by the United States, European countries and others must be lifted. It is these restrictions that do not allow us to move forward,” he said.

In a note on Twitter, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba disagreed with Russia’s statements, saying Moscow was “full of not only killing, torturing and raping Ukrainians, but starving people all over the world, including Africa.” stressed that he was responsible.

Today, at the UN Security Council meeting chaired by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Beasley said the world is indeed facing an “unprecedented crisis” and that “the price of food is our number one problem right now”.

The head of the World Food Program said, “But there will be a problem of food availability in 2023. When a country like Ukraine that produces enough food for 400 million people leaves the market, it creates volatility in the market.” .

The country is considered a major wheat exporter, feeding billions of people. But Russian warships blocked exports via Black Sea ports such as Odessa in southern Ukraine.

According to the executive body, “Failure to open ports in the Odessa region will be a declaration of war on global food security and will result in hunger, instability and mass migration around the world.”

UN Secretary-General António Guterres reminded that “about 60% of the world’s malnourished people live in conflict-affected areas” and that “no country is immune”.

“In April, the World Food Program and its partners distributed food and money to more than 3 million Ukrainians. Until March, your country fed the world with abundant food,” said the Portuguese diplomat.

“44 million people in 38 countries are at emergency levels of famine, one step away from famine, and the war in Ukraine adds a frightening new dimension to this picture,” Guterres said.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine put an end to food exports. Up to 30% price increases in basic foodstuffs threaten countries in Africa and the Middle East, including Cameroon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.