- Russian blockade of Ukrainian ports means vital grain exports all-but stopped
- UN warns tens of millions face famine if the trade cannot be restarted soon
- America is working on a plan to send long-range anti-ship missiles to Ukraine
- It is hoped missiles will force Russian ships to move away, breaking the blockade
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America could send long-range anti-ship missiles such as the Harpoon or Naval Strike Missile (pictured) to Ukraine to break a Russia blockade of its ports
Washington hopes to get the missiles into Ukraine either by donating them directly or by agreeing to resupply European allies who give up their own stocks.
Norway's parliament has already signalled its support for the move. The country has stockpiles of warheads that could be deployed on Naval Strike Missiles.
The NSMs are seen as the weapon-of-choice for Ukraine because they are easier to use and have longer rage than Harpoons.
Configured to their maximum range, they could strike Russian ships even if they withdrew to within 30 miles of the Turkish coast.
That could allow Ukrainian ships to begin transporting grain through the Bosphorus Strait and into the Mediterranean, where it can be distributed globally.
Even at shorter ranges, the missiles would allow shipping to resume to NATO-member Romania, which could help get it to market.
But there is opposition to the plan within Washington from those who worry about escalating the fighting if one of the missiles is actually used to sink a Russian ship.
Ukraine has already sunk one of Russia's warships - the Moskva (pictured) - using home-made missiles, but is not thought to have enough to threaten the rest of the fleet
The UK has sent Brimstone anti-ship missiles to Ukraine (pictured) but these only have a range of up to 40 miles, which is not far enough to break the blockade
Others are concerned about difficulties operating or maintaining the missiles, and the possibility that one could fall into Russian hands.
Ukraine has already managed to sink one Russian vessel - Black Sea flagship Moskva - using two of its home-made anti-ship missiles, which prompted Moscow to move its remaining vessels further from shore.
Those missiles - dubbed Neptune - have a range of 170 miles, but Ukraine is not thought to possess enough of them to threaten the bulk of Russia's fleet, which numbers around 20 warships plus submarines.
The UK has also sent Brimstone anti-ship missiles to Ukraine, but they only have a range of up to 40 miles.
Ukraine, dubbed the 'breadbasket of Europe', produces huge amounts of food each year - a fifth of the world's barley and rapeseed, a tenth of global wheat supplies and up to half the world's sunflower seeds.
Millions of tons of grain is currently sitting in silos in the country's ports waiting for export, with millions more to be added once this season's harvest arrives.
But it cannot leave port because Russian warships are parked just off-shore, waiting to shoot any vessels that leave.
Shipping accounted for 80 per cent of Ukraine's exports before the war, and its road and rail networks are not developed enough to pick up the slack.
The UN is warning that tens of millions of people could face famine if grain trapped in Ukraine's ports cannot be exported soon (pictured, a damaged grain store in Cherkska Lozova)
The EU has developed a plan to boost alternative routes to shipping, but it is thought this can only account for a quarter of boat capacity and will take months to come online - by which time people will be starving.
Antonio Guterres, speaking at a UN summit in New York this week, warned that 'tens of millions of people' could soon be facing food insecurity.
He said what could follow would be 'malnutrition, mass hunger and famine, in a crisis that could last for years.'
America has accused Putin of 'weaponising' grain supplies and urged him to act, but Russia has so-far refused.
Dmitry Medvedev, former president turned top security official, said on Thursday that the Kremlin will not budge on food supplies until Western sanctions imposed over the war are lifted.
Without sanctions being lifted, Medvedev said, 'there's no logic'.
'On the one hand, insane sanctions are being imposed, on the other hand, they are demanding food supplies. Things don't work like that, we're not idiots,' he said.
There are fears that Russia will also stymie its own food exports to the West over the war, even as droughts in India have prompted the country to impose an export ban.
Even if Russia continues its exports, harvests are expected to be lower than usual this year because the armed forces plays an important role in gathering crops - and most soldiers are away fighting.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10834327/U-S-aims-arm-Ukraine-advanced-anti-ship-missiles-fight-Russian-blockade.html
America is working on a plan to send long-range anti-ship missiles to Ukraine to break a blockade of the country's ports and fend off an impending food crisis.
The White House wants to send Harpoon and Naval Strike Missiles - some of which can range up to 345 miles - to Kyiv so they can be deployed on the Black Sea.
The hope is the missiles would present enough of a threat to Russia's warships that they would pull back from Ukraine's ports, allowing vital grain shipments to resume.
Antonia Guterres, the UN secretary general, warned this week that tens of millions of people are facing food shortages and famine if the grain remains blocked.
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