UN Warns Russia’s Suspension of Black Sea Grain Deal Puts Millions at Risk of Hunger
HAVANA TIMES – The United Nations has warned Russia’s decision to terminate the Black Sea grain deal, which allowed for the safe export of food and fertilizer from Ukrainian ports, will lead to soaring food prices and worsening hunger across the globe. U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres spoke Monday after the Kremlin said it would refuse to extend the agreement.
Secretary-General António Guterres: “Ultimately, participation in this agreement is a choice, but struggling people everywhere and developing countries don’t have a choice. Hundreds of millions of people face hunger, and consumers are confronting a global cost-of-living crisis, and they will pay the price.”
This comes just a week after Russia vetoed the extension of a key U.N. humanitarian aid delivery route from Turkey into Syria. On Monday, the U.N. rejected restrictions placed by the Syrian government on the life-saving deliveries through the Bab al-Hawa border crossing. Syrian officials conditioned the shipments on the U.N.’s “full cooperation and coordination” with Syria’s government, among other rules denounced by U.N. officials as “unacceptable.”
Remember the enthusiastic support by Africans for Putin’s invasion of Ukraine? This is a demonstration of the biters being bitten, by their own folly. The Arab countries were also keen to illustrate their support. So who will suffer as a consequence of Putin’s decision?
But all will be well in Cuba, as Russians fill the hotels and relax on the beaches of Cuba, puffing cigars and drinking the more expensive Cuban rums – they may even own the assets around them!