Zelenskyy predicts a global food crisis if Ukraine can't free its ports

 Ukraine's port cities are under siege, blocking millions of tonnes of grain exports. AP

·         Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned the world would be hit by a food crisis without Ukrainian   grain exports.

·         Russian troops have targeted Russia's east and port cities like Mariupol and Odessa.

·         Ukraine has apparently surrendered Mariupol to Russian forces.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has warned of a global food crisis if the country cannot free its ports from Russian blockades.

He said Ukraine's inability to export food out of its ports was creating a crisis in countries dependent on Ukrainian grains like wheat and barley.

Ukraine produces 80 million metric tonnes grain each year and accounts for 6% of all food calories traded in the international market. The blockades are driving global hunger to "famine levels," the UN Security Council was told at a session on Thursday.

After failing to take Kyiv, Russian forces are refocusing their efforts on the country's east, including Odesa and Mariupol, which Russia now appears to control after Ukraine withdrew troops and said it had stopped fighting there.

"Russia has blocked almost all ports and all, so to speak, maritime opportunities to export food – our grain, barley, sunflower and more. A lot of things," Zelenskyy said on Saturday after meeting with Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa in Kyiv.

"There will be a crisis in the world. The second crisis after the energy one, which was provoked by Russia. Now it will create a food crisis if we do not unblock the routes for Ukraine, do not help the countries of Africa, Europe, Asia, which need these food products."

He said one the problem had "a military solution," adding: "That is why we turn to our partners with inquiries regarding the relevant weapons."

On Saturday, US President Joe Biden signed a $40 billion military and humanitarian aid packet for Ukraine, which Zelenskyy thanked the President for in a separate address to Ukrainian citizens Saturday night.

At Thursday's UN Security Council meeting, Sara Menker, a food insecurity expert, warned there was only 10 weeks of wheat supply left in the world.

A UN official warned in early May that 4.5 million tonnes were blocked in Ukraine's ports.

https://www.businessinsider.com/zelenskyy-global-food-crisis-if-ukraine-cant-clear-its-ports-2022-5