The Kremlin said on Monday that the West had caused a global food crisis by imposing the toughest sanctions in modern history on Russia over the war in Ukraine.
The spokesman for the Russian presidency added that President Vladimir Putin agreed with the United Nations (UN) assessment that the world was facing a food crisis that could cause starvation.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “Russia has always been a reliable grain exporter as it is not the cause of the problem. The cause of the problem that leads to global famine is those who impose sanctions on us and the sanctions themselves.”
The war, and Western sanctions to isolate Russia as a punishment, drove up prices for grain, cooking oil, fertilizer, and energy dramatically.
Last week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was in intensive talks with Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, the United States, and the European Union in a bid to restore grain exports from Ukraine as the global food crisis escalated.
