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Russia is committing a “real war crime” by blocking grain exports from Ukraine, as this has prevented millions of tons from getting out of the country, according to a top European Union official.
Ukraine, the world’s largest exporter of sunflower oil, fourth largest of corn, and fifth largest of wheat, has been unable to ship agricultural products since Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion because of a Russian blockade of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Russia’s refusal to allow the ports to operate in the country unencumbered has raised concerns about a growing hunger crisis around the world.
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“One cannot imagine that millions of tons of wheat remain blocked in Ukraine, while in the rest of the world, people are suffering hunger,” High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell told reporters on Monday, as he arrived for a meeting with EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg. “This is a real war crime.”
“The problem comes from the Russian blockade of Ukrainian grain,” he added, addressing a long-standing denial from Russian leaders that the war is responsible for the blockades.
Borrell’s invocation of the “war crimes” accusation comes as the Ukrainian prosecutor general’s office and the International Criminal Court conduct more than 10,000 investigations into such allegations, ranging from soldiers’ treatment of Ukrainian civilians to the planning of the invasion.
Last week, State Department spokesman Ned Price pointed the blame at Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“It is President Putin whose forces are destroying grain silos, who have destroyed ships at sea carrying grain foodstuffs, who have destroyed agricultural fields and crops, and who are now continuing to enact a blockade that is preventing Ukrainian ships laden with 20 or more tons of grain from leaving port and going to destinations around the world,” he said during last Thursday’s briefing with reporters. “That is what Vladimir Putin is doing.”
“We’re working tirelessly to help the Ukrainian government assess alternative routes, to increase the capacity at cross-border points, and to explore the use of mobile equipment, among other tactics, as well as temporary storage solutions, to help move some of this grain out from Ukraine,” he added.
Similarly, U.S. National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said last week that Putin “absolutely has weaponized food” in his invasion.
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The United Nations has warned that there could be up to an additional 47 million people facing acute food insecurity, which it said was “caused by disrupted supplies from the Russian Federation and Ukraine.”