The Untied States has accused Russia of holding global food supplies hostage amid growing fears of famine in developing countries, The Guardian reports.
Former Russian President and now senior security official Dmitry Medvedev warned that his country would not release vital grain shipments without an end to western sanctions against Russia.
At a UN Security Council meeting yesterday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken demanded Russia lift its blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, and immediately enable the flow of food and fertilizer around the world to be resumed.
Blinken said Russia was using food as a weapon in hopes to accomplish what the ongoing invasion of Ukraine has not: to break the spirit of the Ukrainian people. The food supply for millions of Ukrainians and millions of people around the world is being held hostage by Russia, Blinken said.
He called on Russia to stop threatening to withhold food and fertilizer exports from countries that criticize the Russian war against Ukraine.
Western governments and the United Nations have pleaded with Moscow to allow food flow to resume in order to avoid potential famine in some countries.
Medvedev said that Russia is ready to do so, but expected “assistance from trading partners.” He claimed there was “no logic” otherwise because “insane” sanctions were being imposed against Russia while demanding food supplies.
Medvedev said that countries importing Russian wheat and other food supplies will “have a very difficult time” without Russian supplies.
The demand to end Russian sanctions could intensify western efforts to supply Ukraine with weapons to challenge the naval blockade.
The White House is now working to put advanced anti-ship missiles in the hands of Ukrainian fighters to help defeat Russia’s naval blockade.
The news comes with concern that more powerful weapons could intensify the conflict, including weapons that could sink Russian warships.
Ukraine has already sunk Russia’s flagship battle cruiser Moskva, but its military requires more sophisticated weapons to force the Russian naval fleet to back off.
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