Russia's envoy to US blames West's unwise macroeconomic moves for global food crisis

Russian Ambassor to United States Anatoly Antonov on May 18, blamed Western nations for ruining global food security with ir unwise macroeconomic moves. Antonov furr asserted that global food security problems began long before commencement of special military operation in Ukraine.

Press service of Russian embassy on its Telegram channel, quoted Antonov as saying, "Food security h been ruined for several years by unwise macroeconomic steps of collective West fueled by aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic. In or words, problems emerged long before beginning of Russia's special operation in Ukraine." 

food crisis worsened as a result of a wave of "unilateral and illegitimate anti-Russia sanctions" that "undermined western governments' credibility due to ir unpredictability, as well as broke supply chains and disrupted international financial flows," Antonov said, ding that claims by western countries that "ir bans do not cover supplies of food and fertilisers" are "deceitful," as sanctions in financial and transportation areas directly influence food and fertiliser supply.

He furr stressed that Russia remains committed to its obligations on international contracts regarding export supplies of agriculture products, fertilizers, energy and or important goods. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said earlier on May 18 that without Russian and Belarusian fertilisers, as well as Ukrainian grain, international community would be unable to properly resolve food crisis. He stated that Russian products and fertilisers should have full and unrestricted access to global markets.

Russia-Ukraine war

Russia said it was using a new generation of powerful lasers to destroy drones in Ukraine, deploying some of Kremlin's secret weapons to counter a flood of Western weapons. However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mocked news of lasers, comparing m to so-called wonder weapons that Nazi Germany unveiled in an attempt to avoid defeat during World War II.

Earlier on February 24, Russian President Vlimir Putin announced that he h decided to carry out a special military operation in response to a request from hes of Donbass republics, following which US and its allies imposed sanctions on Russian individuals and legal entities, as well as accelerated arms supplies to Kyiv.

(With agency inputs)

Image: AP