Vladimir Putin’s decision to block grain shipments from Ukraine is worsening global hunger and hitting countries already suffering from food insecurity, James Cleverly has said.
The British Foreign Secretary was speaking as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak travelled to India for a G20 summit where he is set to “call out” Russia over the suffering the country has inflicted on Ukraine and millions of the world’s poorest people.
But the PM faces stumbling blocks with a number of countries, including India, maintaining a neutral position over Russia’s war against Ukraine.
Asked if Mr Sunak will pressure Indian prime minister Narendra Modi to oppose Putin, Mr Cleverly told the BBC: “I think the way the Prime Minister will phrase it, not just to India but to a number of the other countries at the G20, is that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is not just a European issue.
“I know a lot of countries around the world view this as a European issue, but the point the Prime Minister will make is that Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, and more specifically their targeting of civilian agricultural infrastructure – grain storage, grain shipments through the Black Sea, this is making global hunger worse and they’re doing it on purpose to try and put pressure on Ukraine.
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“We will highlight the impact it is having on the countries which are already suffering from food insecurity and seek their cooperation with us, putting pressure on Russia to end this brutality.”
Putin has refused to attend this year’s G20 summit, sending foreign minister Sergei Lavrov to New Delhi in his absence.
Mr Sunak has said he plans to highlight the impact that Moscow’s decision to end the Black Sea Grain Initiative is having on developing nations, which rely on cheap grain from Ukraine for food.
His pledge to use the gathering in New Delhi to continue to rally against the Kremlin’s attack on Kyiv comes despite host country India continuing to keep open ties with Putin’s regime.
To mark Mr Sunak’s arrival in the Indian capital, Downing Street announced London will host a global food security summit in November.
No. 10 said the food conference would be in response to Mr Putin in July opting not to renew the grain deal with Ukraine, which allowed cargo ships to transport grain out of the war-torn country’s Black Sea ports without fear of attack.
The UK Government has also announced British military and security services will monitor the Black Sea in a bid to deter Russia from striking cargo ships that are transporting grain from Ukraine to developing countries.
The Prime Minister said the loss of the grain pact was “causing an enormous amount of suffering to millions of people”.
He continued: “That initiative provided something like 30 million tonnes of food to over 45 countries who really needed it. And now it is not there.
“You’ve seen since he pulled out that dramatic increase in food prices. And in the last month alone, the Russians have destroyed more grain than would feed, I think, a million people for a year. Those are the consequences of what Russia is doing. They’ve also destroyed about a third of Ukraine’s civilian export capacity with their bombardment. That is wrong. It is not right.
“It is causing suffering in Ukraine, but it is also causing suffering to millions of people in very vulnerable countries around the world. And I want to do everything I can to hold them to account for that and to call out that behaviour.”
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It comes after the discovery of drone debris in Romania this week left some fearing the war in neighboring Ukraine could spread to their country.
Moscow aims to disrupt Kyiv’s ability to export grain to world markets with a sustained campaign of attacks targeting Ukrainian Danube ports, and has attacked the port of Izmail four times this week, according to Ukraine.
Debris which appeared to be from a drone were found near the Romanian village of Plauru, Romanian Defense Minister Angel Tilvar said on Wednesday (September 6).
It was unclear if Romanian authorities had determined when or from where the drone was launched with Mr Tilvar saying the debris didn’t pose a threat.
Romanian President Klaus Iohannis demanded an urgent investigation, adding if the debris were confirmed to have been from a Russian drone it would be an inadmissable violation of NATO member Romania’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Washington this week announced it will send depleted uranium anti-tank rounds to Ukraine, following Britain’s lead in sending the controversial munitions to help Kyiv push through Russian lines in its gruelling counteroffensive.
The 120mm rounds will be used to arm the 31 M1A1 Abrams tanks the US plans to deliver to Ukraine in the autumn.
Such armour-piercing rounds were developed by the US during the Cold War to destroy Soviet tanks, including the same T-72 tanks which Ukraine faces as it battle to retake its territory.
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