Russia warns of global hunger, declares no food exports

Russia will not export food if it is still under sanctions

Vice Chairman of the Security Council of Russia, Former President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia would not export food to avoid hurting its market, adding that the West was responsible for the looming famine crisis.

In a lengthy Telegram post, Mr. Medvedev commented on recent statements by Western leaders about Food Security. Since Russia and Ukraine are major suppliers of wheat, accounting for about 30% of total global exports, prices have risen significantly since Russia launched a military offensive in the neighboring country and was subject to US sanctions. USA, EU, UK and some other Western countries.

RT quoted United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on May 18 as saying that fertilizers and food products from Russia should be supplied to the world market without problems.

Mr. Medvedev agrees that if there is no wheat and other food supplies from Russia, importing countries will face many difficulties. Mr. Medvedev specifically noted, without Russian fertilizers, “only weeds will grow” in the fields.

In the view of Prime Minister Medvedev, all sanctions are useless for important things, such as food or energy.

The former Russian president argued that sanctions hinder people’s desire to live a normal, prosperous life. The expansion of NATO and the calculation of debts, payments and other things” has exacerbated the situation.

According to Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Medvedev, Russia is ready to fulfill all its obligations, but it has the right to expect some support from its trading partners. Otherwise, he emphasized, there would be no logic to this: “On the one hand, measures punishment is being applied to us, and on the other hand, the West is asking for food supplies. That won’t happen, we’re not fools.” Mr. Medvedev affirmed that there would be no Russian exports to the detriment of the domestic market. “Food for the Russian people is a sacred matter,” he said.

Since Russia began its military campaign in Ukraine in late February, Moscow, Kiev and many other Western rivals have blamed each other for the looming food crisis.

During the G7 summit in March, French President Emmanuel Macron launched a global initiative on food security. The initiative includes an emergency plan to release stockpiles in the event of a crisis, multilateral commitments not to impose restrictions on exports of agricultural raw materials, temporary increases in production thresholds, support support sustainable food production in the most vulnerable countries, and create a mechanism that allows the supply of agricultural products in sufficient quantities and at reasonable prices if there is a need.

Global hunger warning

Earlier, on May 19, Russian presidential adviser Maxim Oreshkin predicted a starvation globally in late fall or later this year. According to him, the main cause of this potential global hunger is the increase in the world market price of wheat, stemming from the unreasonable monetary policy of the US.

“Until about 2020, the world market price of wheat was stable, but after the dollar rose, starting around July 2020, prices started to increase sharply,” he said, referring to the measures. of Washington to limit the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the economy. However, according to Oreshkin, more recent actions by the Washington administration have the potential to aggravate an already very serious situation.

“In fact, what the US is trying to do with Ukraine right now is to take away the grain reserves that Ukraine has,” the official said, pointing out that this is another act that confronts Ukraine. with serious humanitarian problems, but also expose the global community to major problems.

Wheat prices are up more than 60% this year, with the latest spike due to supply disruptions due to the conflict in the US. Ukraine and Western sanctions against Russia. The two countries account for nearly a third of the world’s wheat exports.

The situation was further aggravated after major grain suppliers Russia, Kazakhstan and India largely banned exports to protect domestic food supplies.

According to news from New Delhi, wheat futures rose 5.9% on May 16 to hit an all-time high of $12.68 a bushel (20-22kg) on ​​the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, before slightly decreased in the following days. In the European market, wheat price reached a historic high of about $461/ton.