The attempt by the US to take over Ukraine’s grain reserves may spark a humanitarian crisis in the country and lead to grain shortages globally, Maksim Oreshkin, an aide to President Vladimir Putin, said on Thursday.
According to the official, a global famine could break out by this coming fall.
“It is important that in the conditions, for example, of a global famine that will occur closer to autumn, by the end of this year all over the world, Russia should not suffer, but be fully provided with food,” Oreshkin stated, as cited by RIA Novosti.
The main reason for this potential global famine, in his opinion, is the increase in the cost of wheat in the world market, which stems from Washington’s irresponsible monetary policy.
READ MORE: Russian exports can solve global food crisis – UN“Until about 2020, wheat prices on the world market were stable, but following the increased printing of the dollar, which started around July 2020, prices started rising sharply,” he stated, referring to Washington’s measures to curb the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy. However, according to Oreshkin, the Biden administration’s more recent actions are likely to worsen the situation, which is already dire.
“In fact, what America is trying to do with Ukraine now is to take out the grain reserves that Ukraine currently has in its possession – just another action that dooms Ukraine to serious humanitarian problems, but also dooms the global community to having big problems with hunger,” the official warned.
Wheat prices have shot up more than 60% this year, with the latest spike resulting from supply disruptions caused by the conflict in Ukraine and Western sanctions against Moscow. The two countries account for almost a third of the world’s wheat exports.
The situation was further exacerbated after major grain suppliers Russia, Kazakhstan, and India largely banned exports to protect their domestic food supplies.
Following the news from New Delhi, the price of wheat futures rose by 5.9% on Monday to reach an all-time high of $12.68 per bushel on the Chicago commodities exchange, before correcting slightly in the following days. In the European market, the price reached a historic high of around $461 per ton.
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