specter of famine prompts UN to pressure Russia to extend Ukrainian grain deal

Will there be enough to eat for everyone? While the world’s population should exceed the 8 billion mark on November 15, according to UN projections, in Bali, Indonesia, the major powers are worried. Because talking about the global food crisis at the G20 is first and foremost pointing the finger at Russia’s responsibility. The attack on Ukraine has destabilized the export of Ukrainian cereals to southern countries whose food security is fragile. Production losses and the slowdown in Ukrainian agricultural exports have largely contributed to the spike in prices on the food market.

>> War in Ukraine: four questions about Russia’s return to the grain export deal

Hence the appeal launched on Tuesday 15 November in Bali by Antonio Guterres, the Secretary General of the United Nations, four days before the expiry of the agreement on the humanitarian maritime corridor in the Black Sea. The agreement negotiated in July under the aegis of Turkey, which has made it possible to deliver some 10 million tonnes of Ukrainian cereals since August 1, expires on Friday November 18. And Moscow lets doubt hang over its intentions, raising fears of famines at the UN. So many elements that prompted Antonio Guterres to ask the G20 to act urgently to avoid a massive food crisis.

Returning from Kherson, in the South of Ukraine, which had just been taken over by his army, the Ukrainian president proposed to extend “indefinitely” This agreement. By videoconference, Volodymyr Zelensky spoke to the “G19”, as he calls it, excluding Russia.

Russia, although present at this summit in the Indonesian capital and represented by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, has not yet indicated whether it will renew this agreement. Moscow denounces the blocking of its own food exports and especially of fertilizers essential to many poor countries.