The West itself took measures that led to the blocking of grain supplies from Ukraine to Africa. This was announced on Thursday, May 26, by the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov.
“We categorically reject these accusations and, on the contrary, accuse the Western countries of taking a number of illegal actions that led to this blockade,” he said.
According to a Kremlin spokesman, it is the actions of the West that prevent the charter of ships and the export of grain.
A day earlier, the UK opposed the lifting of anti-Russian sanctions in exchange for unblocking the export of grain from Ukraine. On the same day, the Chinese edition of Xinhua identified the situation on Ukrainian territory, as well as anti-Russian sanctions from the West, as the causes of the largest food crisis in Europe.
As Senator Alexei Pushkov said on May 21, the world crisis might not have happened at all if the West had provided Russia with security guarantees and had not tried to strangle its economy with the help of restrictions.
On May 18, the head of the UN World Food Program, David Beasley, appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a request to open seaports in Ukraine for the export of grain. In response, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Russia would open access to the ports after the lifting of sanctions against Russia.
Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation Andrey Rudenko also pointed out that the solution to the food crisis in the world requires the lifting of anti-Russian sanctions that hinder free trade in food products, including wheat and fertilizers.
Back in April, Putin noted that the refusal of a number of Western countries from normal cooperation with Russia, as well as from part of Russian energy resources, had already hit Europe and the United States. In addition, it was noted that anti-Russian sanctions could lead to a significant reduction in grain exports. In this case, famine threatens many states, primarily in the Middle East and Africa.
On February 24, Russia launched a special operation to protect Donbass. Moscow explained that the tasks of the special operation include the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine, the implementation of which is necessary to ensure the security of Russia. The decision was made against the backdrop of aggravation in the region as a result of shelling by the Ukrainian military.