Russia invaded Ukraine, blocked its seaports, and is now blackmailing the world amid the threat of famine.
The UN World Food Program’s head David Beasley has called on Russia to open Ukraine’s seaports because of the threat of famine in the regions of the world that are dependent on the supply of agricultural products from Ukraine. As expected, the Russian Federation has resorted to blackmail in response to this.
Commenting on the call to open Ukraine’s ports, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said that the issue of opening the ports should be considered together with the possibility of lifting the sanctions on Russian exports, the CFTS portal reports, citing the Interfax news agency.
"You have to not only appeal to the Russian Federation but to also look deeply at the whole set of reasons that caused the current food crisis and, in the first instance, these are the sanctions that have been imposed against Russia by the US and the EU that interfere with normal free trade, encompassing food products including wheat, fertilizers, and others. Therefore, this issue must be considered in a very complex and comprehensive way. If our partners want to reach a solution, then the problems related to the lifting of sanctions on Russian exports must be resolved," Rudenko told reporters.
Earlier, the United Nations said that Russia’s naval blockade of Ukraine’s ports was preventing the export of about 25 million tons of grain through Ukrainian ports.
According to the International Grains Council, Ukraine was the world's fourth corn exporter in the 2020/21 season and the world's sixth wheat exporter.
