SOCHI, September 27. /TASS/. Sanctions on the export of Russian grain and fertilizers may lead to a global food crisis and the collective West is to blame, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting on seasonal agricultural works on Tuesday.
"Our supply of grain and fertilizer abroad is still hampered, sad to say not for us, but for the global food market," said the head of state. According to him, "sanctions against Russia threaten to further worsen the situation and the global food crisis, which the world has been heading towards for several years."
"It has nothing at all to do with Russia’s special military operation in Donbass," Putin stressed. "This is a result of the financial and food policies that some leading countries adopted. And certainly, the so-called collective West is fully to blame for it," he concluded.
Putin also touched upon the situation around the export of Ukrainian grain, which "continues to bypass the poorest countries." "As of September 23, out of 203 ships leaving Ukrainian ports, only four headed to the poorest countries in accordance with the United Nations’ program," Putin noted. According to him, out of the 46 vessels that left Ukraine between Monday and Friday last week, 14 reported Turkey as their destination and a mediator country, while 25 out of the 32 remaining ships were sent to the European Union. "They aren’t the poorest countries, are they? The situation hasn’t changed here," the Russian president said, adding: "It’s nothing but a total farce."