Borrell accuses Putin of making food more expensive and causing famine by blocking the Black Sea

The head of diplomacy of the European Union, Josep Borrellaccused Russia on Tuesday of food prices skyrocket again and of wanting to cause a famine in the poorest countries with his blockade of the ports of the mar black. The High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy calls on the international community to react to Moscow’s blackmail, whose sole objective is to enrich itself and finance the war of aggression against Ukraine.

Borrell took advantage of the meeting of the 27 foreign ministers that was held this Thursday in Brussels to present his plan for create a fund of 20,000 million euros with the aim of guaranteeing long-term military support for kyiv. The proposal will be discussed in depth at the informal meeting scheduled for the August 30 and 31 in Toledoon the occasion of the Spanish presidency of the EU.

“Russia has withdrawn from the Black Sea Grain Agreement and the world is once again facing a man-made food security problem. Putin is using hunger as a weapon, even against people from countries who are hesitant to condemn their illegal bloodbath in Ukraine,” Borrell said at the end of the Foreign Affairs Council.

[Borrell plantea un fondo de 20.000 millones para prestar apoyo militar a Ucrania a largo plazo]

“We must remember the basic information. Russia, without any justification, is blockading and shelling the ports of Ukraine and is preventing freedom of navigation in the Black Sea, threatening that he will treat all passing ships as warships. Russia illegally blocks Ukrainian grain exports, destroys Ukrainian fields and loots Ukrainian agricultural production,” insists the head of European diplomacy.

“Contrary to what Russia says, is reaping significant benefits from exports of its own cereals and fertilizers. And now he will get even more benefits when prices rise again, after Russia has scuttled the deal and destroyed warehouses in Ukrainian ports,” the former Spanish foreign minister denounced.

“We believe that the international community should respond decisively to this deliberate attempt by Putin to create a famine in order to earn extra money or continue an illegal war,” Borrell claims.

Regarding the fund of 20,000 million euros, the head of European diplomacy explained that what it is about is transforming the military support that the EU already provides to Ukraine into “a long-term commitment”. The new mechanism would be within the European Peace Support Fund, but would have a chapter dedicated exclusively to kyiv of 5,000 million a year for the next four years.

Türkiye

In addition to discussing the situation in Ukraine, the 27 foreign ministers have discussed in Brussels how reset relations with Türkiye after the new electoral victory of Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The Turkish president has sent some encouraging signs to Brussels (particularly the unblocking of Sweden’s accession to NATO) and calls for reviving Ankara’s moribund accession process to the EU.

Borrell has said that in the short term Brussels can offer Turkey advance in the liberalization of visas or modernize the current customs agreement. But for this, it needs Ankara to reduce tension in the Eastern Mediterranean and facilitate negotiations for the reunification of Cyprus.

“It is clear that the relationship with Cyprus and the relationship with Greece, the situation in the Eastern Mediterranean, is going to be a fundamental aspect of this attempt to re-establish constructive relations with Türkiye“, explained the High Representative.

Regarding Ankara’s entry into the EU, Borrell argues that “Ukraine’s candidacy for the European Union has created a new dynamic in our neighbourhood”. “If Ukraine is a candidate, it will speed up the process in all the Balkans and then certainly Turkey also wants to be a part of this game. We have to look first at the modernization of our Customs Union and also at the issue of visas,” has said.