Putin Offers Help With Food Crisis While Lifting Sanctions

Russia is ready to contribute to overcoming the food crisis if politically motivated sanctions are lifted , President Vladimir Putin said in a telephone conversation with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, the Kremlin reported.

During the conversation, Putin noted that Russia "is unreasonably accused of problems with the supply of agricultural products to world markets." According to him, the difficulties that have arisen are related, among other things, “to failures in the operation of production and logistics chains, as well as to the financial policy of Western countries during the pandemic.” In connection with the introduction of anti-Russian sanctions by the United States and the European Union, the situation has worsened, the president added.

However, if the West removes "politically motivated restrictions" from Russia, the country is "ready to make a significant contribution to overcoming the food crisis through the export of grain and fertilizers," Putin Draghi said.

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky warned about the threat of a large-scale food crisis in March. The country is one of the largest suppliers of food, in particular wheat, corn and vegetable oil. However, in connection with the Russian special operation, the supply of these and other goods was disrupted, the Ukrainian leader said.

In particular, the UN said that Russia is preventing the export of food from Ukrainian ports. According to World Food Program director David Beasley, failure to unblock ports would mean "a declaration of war on global food security."

The Russian Foreign Ministry, in response to Beasley's statement, noted that the UN needs to pay attention "to the whole complex of reasons that caused the current food crisis." “First of all, these are the sanctions imposed against Russia by the United States and the European Union, which interfere with the normal free trade in food products,” said Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko. He also admitted that Russia could open access to the seaports of Ukraine if sanctions were lifted from it.