Italy warns Russia over blockade on Ukraine’s ports

Millions of people could die of hunger unless Russia lifts the blockade on Ukraine’s ports on the Black Sea, Italy’s foreign minister, Luigi Di Maio, has warned.

The next few weeks will be crucial to resolving the global food crisis, Di Maio said after a virtual meeting that included Mediterranean countries as well as G7 president Germany and the UN’s food and agriculture organisation.

Di Maio said:

I want to say clearly, we expect clear and concrete signals from Russia, because blocking grain exports means holding hostage and condemning to death millions of children, women and men.

Lebanon’s minister for foreign affairs, Abdallah Bou Habib, told ministers that rises in fuel and basic food stuffs were exacerbating the crisis in his country.

He called for the war in Ukraine to “stop at any cost”, adding that if it could not, “concerned parties… must be pressured to allow the safe export of grains and other commodities without any delay”.

Bou Habib said:

The world cannot continue to be at the mercy of military crises in Europe or other regions of the world.

Tags: Ukraine, war