MOSCOW, June 8. /TASS/. The developments in Ukraine did not trigger the global food crisis and the country has "much less" than the Kiev regime asserts, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.
"Firstly, as far as we know, they have much less grain there than the Ukrainians say. Secondly, the importance of these grain reserves in terms of influence on international grain markets should not be overexaggerated. [This] percentage is too minuscule to have a significant impact on the course of the global food crisis that has already begun," Peskov stressed.
He emphasized that "it was not the Ukrainian crisis that served as the catalyst or triggered the world food crisis."
"This was preceded by a whole chain of events and the erroneous actions of governments around the world," the spokesman concluded.
Commenting on the likelihood of mediation by third countries in opening special corridors for the export of grain from Ukraine, Peskov said that for this to happen it would be necessary "to understand the position of the Ukrainian side."
"In order to consider something, perhaps the Ukrainian side should say what they need and whether they want to take this grain out somewhere," Peskov concluded.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Ukraine’s grain export potential is estimated at 20 million tonnes, which is next to nothing on the world scale. The Russian leader noted that he was referring to the potential export, while Kiev’s real capabilities were far lower.
Putin called out the slew of claims alleging that Russia was supposedly blocking grain in the ports of Ukraine as nothing but a bluff. He stressed that Moscow would not use the possible demining of ports in the south of Ukraine to attack from the sea.