Russian blockades and bombing attacks to blame for global food insecurity, says G7 leaders
Russian blockades and bombing attacks to blame for global food insecurity, says G7 leaders
Leaders at a G7 summit on Friday said Russia is to blame for a growing food insecurity crisis, which is having a particularly naming impact on countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
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Ukraine is the world's fifth-largest exporter of wheat [source: Getty]
is exacerbating food insecurity with its blockades and bombing attacks on key infrastructure in , according to a statement released by the foreign ministers of the major economies on Friday.
The ministers called on "to cease its attacks and threatening actions and un-block the Ukrainian Black Sea ports for food exports".
Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine on February 24, seizing several cities and forcing millions of Ukrainian to flee their homeshas caused serious disruption to global supply chains, as Russia and Ukraine are major exporters of wheat and other products.Ìý
Also on Friday, said Russia's war against Ukraine, not Western sanctions, will add another 40 or 50 million more people to the ranks of the hungry.Ìý
"There is no reason other than Russia's blockade of Ukraine and Russia's refusal in many cases to export its own grain for political reasons," said Blinken at a joint news conference with Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
Baerbock said international partners were working together to counter Russia's "cynical" and potentially destabilizing grains war and the corresponding propaganda.
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