Zakharova castigates West for accusing Russia of provoking food crisis

Claims made by some in the West accusing Russia of stoking a global food crisis are false and detached from reality, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.

The Russian diplomat pointed to news and other materials circulating as part of the West’s media crusade aimed at discrediting Russia and accusing it of posing a threat to the world’s food security.

“We have been seeing more and more claims by Western officials – unfortunately, from international organizations and the United Nations in particular – about the risk of a large-scale food crisis that Russia has been allegedly causing by its actions in Ukraine amid a deficit of grain and fertilizers on global markets. These are lies. These statements are false in their essence, both in their form and content,” Zakharova emphasized.

Russia will continue to supply grain, fertilizers and energy carriers

Russia is ready to continue to fulfil obligations on exports of grain, fertilizers and energy carriers, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a briefing on Wednesday.

According to Zakharova, by the end of the year, Russia will be able to supply about 25 million tonnes of grain and at least 22 million tonnes of fertilizers to the international market.

“Despite the unprecedented sanctions pressure, we continue commercial supplies of food through bilateral channels and provide food assistance to those in need through the relevant World Food Program. In particular, these are Yemen, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Sudan, Tajikistan, Cuba,” she said.

Edited by Hamda Mustafa