The Kremlin said on Monday that the west had triggered a global food crisis by imposing the severest sanctions on Russia. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday that he was in intense contact with Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, the United States, and the European Union in an effort to restore grain exports from Ukraine as a global food crisis worsens.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said, agreed with the United Nations assessment that the world faced a food crisis that could cause famine.
"Russia has always been a rather reliable grain exporter," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. "We are not the source of the problem. The source of the problem that leads to world hunger are those who imposed sanctions against us, and the sanctions themselves."
Meanwhile, Russia on 24th February launched its invasion of Ukraine. And, according to the latest updates, Ukraine has said it will not agree to any ceasefire deal that would involve handing over territory to Russia, as Moscow intensified its attack in the eastern Donbas region. Zelenskiy has extended Ukraine’s martial law for three months through to 23 August. Ukraine’s parliament also banned the symbols “Z” and “V”, used by Russia’s military to promote its war in Ukraine, but agreed to Zelenskiy’s call to allow their use for educational or historic purposes. Also, YouTube has taken down more than 70,000 videos and 9,000 channels related to the war in Ukraine for violating content guidelines, including removal of videos that referred to the invasion as a “liberation mission”.