NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Leaders from Europe, the Americas and Africa called Tuesday for urgent action and funding to ease a growing global food security crisis that has been exacerbated by Russia鈥檚 war with Ukraine and, thanks to climate change, threatens to get worse in coming years.
Speaking at a Global Food Security Summit on the sidelines of the annual U.N. General Assembly, the leaders demanded an end to the war, with each calling it a needless 鈥渁ggression鈥� and Spain鈥檚 prime minister accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to 鈥渂lackmail鈥� the world with hunger by causing severe disruptions in the export of Ukrainian grain.
The leaders also took Russia to task for spreading misinformation about the destination of Ukrainian grain that has been shipped out of the Black Sea under a U.N.-brokered agreement mediated by Turkey.
鈥淩ussia must end its illegal war against Ukraine, which has certainly been an essential source of the world鈥檚 food supply,鈥� Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told the gathering. 鈥淭he truth is that Putin is trying to blackmail the international community with a large part of the world鈥檚 food needs. We cannot combat hunger without peace. The world is expecting much from us. Let鈥檚 act together, and let鈥檚 act now.鈥�
Last week, the U.N. food chief warned the world is facing 鈥渁 global emergency of unprecedented magnitude,鈥� with up to 345 million people marching toward starvation 鈥� and 70 million pushed closer to starvation by the war in Ukraine. David Beasley, executive director of the U.N. World Food Program, told the U.N. Security Council that the number is 2 1/2 times the number of acutely food-insecure people before the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020 and that there is a real risk of 鈥渕ultiple famines鈥� this year.
鈥淭his is not acceptable. This is not sustainable,鈥� said European Commission President Charles Michel. 鈥淩ussia鈥檚 war against the people of Ukraine is a test 鈥� a test of our international rules-based order.鈥�
Along with Sanchez, the event featured Senegalese President Macky Sall, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Colombian President Gustavo Petro and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken filling in for President Joe Biden. Michel opened the event by calling out what he said were Russia鈥檚 lies about Ukrainian grain not getting to countries that need it most.
鈥淐ontrary to Russian disinformation, this food is getting to Africa, the Middle East and Asia,鈥� he said.
鈥淲e must not believe Russia鈥檚 disinformation,鈥� Scholz echoed. 鈥淒ata clearly shows that the majority of grain exports facilitated goes to developing and emerging countries and has global impacts on grain availability and prices.鈥�
He said next year may be even more difficult as the food shortage will be compounded by a lack of fertilizer, something Sall said was particularly worrisome for African nations.
Blinken called the numbers 鈥渟taggering鈥� and said Biden would be announcing additional U.S. contributions to fight the crisis on Wednesday. Blinken called on other countries to follow suit.
鈥淪ome countries with the capacity to do more are among those doing the least,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat needs to change. No matter what countries have done so far, every country is called upon to do more.鈥�
Blinken also called for the renewal of the July agreement on the shipments of Ukrainian grain.
Matthew Lee, The Associated Press
