WASHINGTON, May 12. /TASS/. The United States deliberately turns the situation "upside down" when claiming that the food supply crisis is caused by Russia’s actions in the waters of the Black and Azov Seas, Russian Ambassador to Washington Anatoly Antonov told journalists.
"The United States is deliberately presenting the situation ‘upside down.’ The Kiev authorities are mining the port waters, preventing ships from delivering provisions and other goods to other states. At the same time, our efforts to coordinate the opening of humanitarian corridors continue to be ignored," the Russian Embassy’s Telegram channel quoted him as saying.
The Russian diplomat emphasized that "Washington stubbornly refuses to take responsibility for its foreign economic faults." "Statements that anti-Russian restrictions allegedly do not harm our food and fertilizer supplies do not stand up to criticism. Apparently, attempts to isolate the Russian financial system and undermine the capabilities of the transport sector do not count," he asserted.
The Russian envoy noted that Moscow is deeply concerned over the current situation on global food markets and "will continue to fulfill its obligations under international export contracts in terms of agricultural goods and fertilizers in good faith."
Earlier on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov at a press conference following talks with his Omani counterpart Sayyid Badr bin Hamad Al Busaidi stressed that Russia’s actions had never impacted and could not impact the global food problem. According to him, the Western restrictions destroyed transport and logistics chains that had existed worldwide for many years. Additionally, the Russian top diplomat noted that the Kiev regime was not letting dozens of vessels with food products out of its ports.
On February 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin said in a televised address that in response to a request by the heads of the Donbass republics he had made a decision to carry out a special military operation in order to protect people "who have been suffering from abuse and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years." The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories. Following this, the US, the EU, the UK and a number of other countries announced the introduction of sanctions against Russian legal entities and private individuals.