Coalition of leaders: Urgent action needed for food security
Leaders from Europe, the Americas and Africa are calling for urgent action and funding to ease a growing global food security crisis
NEW YORK (AP) — 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’s 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 “aggression” and Spain’s prime minister accusing Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to “blackmail” 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.
“Russia must end its illegal war against Ukraine, which has certainly been an essential source of the world’s food supply,” Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told the gathering. “The truth is that Putin is trying to blackmail the international community with a large part of the world’s food needs. We cannot combat hunger without peace. The world is expecting much from us. Let’s act together, and let’s act now.”
