Ukraine assures that Russia “is happy” with the rise in food prices around the world

July 21 () –

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Dimitro Kuleba, assured this Thursday that Russia “is happy” about the rise in food prices around the world because this way it can “increase its benefits” based on hunger.

“Russia is happy with the rise in world food prices. They killed the Black Sea grain deal for exactly that: to increase their exports and their starvation benefits. The saddest of all is that (the president’s) blackmail Russian) Vladimir Putin will be paid by the most vulnerable, especially in various African countries,” Kuleba posted on his Twitter account.

On the other hand, Oleg Ustenko, economic adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, has declared that there will be a planet-wide disaster if Ukraine fails to use its ports and food corridors.

“In our ports right now we have grain ready to be shipped to the world. We are talking about large quantities of grain, enough to feed six million people on the entire planet. (…) If Ukraine is not able to use ports and runners, it will be a disaster for the whole world,” Ustenko said.

He has also denounced the attacks by the Russian Army against various Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea, which have intensified since Russia withdrew from the grain agreement; A missile attack on Odessa has destroyed 60,000 tons of grain, which would be the equivalent of leaving 300,000 people without food, according to Zelensky’s adviser.

“They would love to see hunger. They have understood that migration is growing and that it will accelerate. This is the card they are going to play,” Ustenko explained.

In this sense, he has opined that Russia’s intention is to exacerbate the already “precarious situation” in the Global South to provoke a new migration crisis in Europe and North America, and that they are beginning to act in a more “aggressive and barbaric” way. because “they have realized that they will not win” the war in Ukraine.

Russia and Ukraine reached in mid-July 2022, with the mediation of Turkey and the UN, an agreement for the export of agricultural products from Ukrainian ports. After several extensions, Moscow decided at the beginning of the week to end the pact considering that it was not fully complied with and its interests were being harmed.

In fact, the Russian president asserted that 70 percent of exports from Ukrainian ports have gone to first world countries, especially members of the European Union. States most in need, such as Ethiopia, Sudan, Somalia or Yemen would have barely received three percent of the merchandise.