Blinken: Reports of Russia Stealing Ukraine's Grain 'Credible'

On Monday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that reports that Russia has stolen grain from Ukraine for resale are "credible".

In a State Department conference on food security issues arising from the invasion of Ukraine, Blinked added that the grain sector crisis is deliberate, accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of "blackmail" to lift international sanctions.

He stressed that Moscow started also begun to preserve its food exports after exposing a "Russian naval blockade in the Black Sea is preventing Ukraine's crops from being shipped to their normal destinations."

"There is somewhere around 20 million tonnes of wheat that is trapped in silos near Odessa, and in ships literally filled with grain that are stuck in the Odessa port because of this Russian blockade," he added.

The New York Times reported that the United States has alerted 14 countries, mostly in Africa in mid-May, about Russian cargo ships carrying "stolen Ukrainian grain."

Blinken referred to the newspaper article without directly confirming the alert to African countries.