Skip to main content

Politics

Russia worsening global food crisis by bombing wheat stocks: EU policy chief

"They are bombing Ukrainian cities and provoking hunger in the world," he said

April 12, 2022 10:36pm

Updated: April 13, 2022 11:53am

Moscow is making a global food crisis worse by destroying wheat stocks and preventing Ukraine from exporting crops, claimed European Union foreign policy head Josep Borrell.

He accused Russia of "bombing and destroying stocks of wheat and preventing this wheat from being exported," Euronews reported. 

Russian forces are also preventing ships full of wheat from leaving Ukrainian ports, Borrell said.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the cost of the CBOT Wheat Future went from $769 on Feb. 1 to more than $1,100 on Tuesday, Nasdaq observed.

"They are bombing Ukrainian cities and provoking hunger in the world. They are provoking hunger in the world by blocking the exports of wheat and by destroying the storage of wheat in Ukraine," Borrell said as he asked the public not to blame sanctions.

His comments came after an EU meeting Monday on additional sanctions against Russia. Borrell said that while "nothing was off the table," an agreement was not reached.

Republicans, such as Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) have accused the Biden administration of acting "willfully ignorant" towards the possible food crisis.