Russo-Ukraine War: Russia and Ukraine produce 30 percent of the global wheat supply.
Moscow:
Russia on Wednesday rejected suggestions that grain stuck in Ukraine’s ports was fueling a global food crisis as Moscow stepped up its military offensive.
Moscow’s campaign in the pro-Western country has not only devastated crops and farming, but also disrupted vital deliveries from Ukraine – one of the world’s main grain producers – leading to concerns about hunger and food prices around the world. I am getting worried.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, “As far as we know, there is much less grain than Ukrainians. There is no need to exaggerate the importance of these grain reserves.”
“It is too small a percentage to have an impact on the development of the food crisis that has already begun. It was not the Ukrainian crisis that caused or exacerbated the food crisis in the world,” he said.
“The Ukrainian side should say what they want, whether they want to send this grain somewhere,” Peskov said.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who was in Ankara for talks to build a security corridor to send grain from Ukraine, made similar remarks.
“The current situation with Ukrainian cereals has nothing to do with the food crisis,” Lavrov said.
Russia and Ukraine produce 30 percent of the global wheat supply.
Russia has repeatedly denied blocking the passage of Ukrainian grain-laden cargo ships, instead blaming Western sanctions against Moscow for contributing to the food crisis.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that about 20-25 million tonnes of grain are currently blocked in Ukraine’s ports and this could increase to 70-75 million tonnes in the autumn.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)