MOSCOW, July 26. /TASS/. Western countries have been trying to block deliveries of Russian food and fertilizers to the countries in need, due to their policy of sanctions and protectionism, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin said.
"Figures on hunger and malnutrition cited by United Nations agencies are gruesome and shocking, especially on some 50 million people, primarily in the Sahel, the Gaza Strip, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Syria, who are at the brink of starvation. The situation in Gaza remains the most serious, with its population almost entirely underfed," Pankin told the G20 Ministerial Meeting of the Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty, Rio de Janeiro. "We have to note that against this background, the collective West is still pursuing its disinformation campaign and tightening up its clampdown on Russian food and fertilizer supplies to developing countries in need, while seeking to conceal the underlying real causes of the negative trends, namely their own financial, economic and energy blunders and miscalculations."
"Rampant sanctions, protectionism and Western interference in supply chains only increase distortions in markets and price volatility," Pankin continued.
He added that Russia continues to fulfill, responsibly and in good-faith, its contractual obligations to export food, fertilizers, energy and other critical products.
"However, illegitimate impediments created by the West for Russian economic operators (trade restrictions, denial of access of Russian ships to European ports, prohibition of insurance and financial transactions) are hampering global food security and slow down progress towards sustainable development," the deputy minister went on.
"Russia acts as a responsible and reliable donor donating - as part of Presidential initiative - tens of thousands of tons of Russian fertilizers (seized in European ports) and grain to a large number of African countries, including Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Eritrea, Mali, Somalia, Zimbabwe. We are actively seeking alternative routes to supply Russian food products to the poorest countries," he said.