Participant in mass unrest in Beirut. File photoMOSCOW, April 30Rising food prices amid the events in Ukraine and Western sanctions against Moscow could lead to unrest in a number of countries, experts who spoke with RIA Novosti expressed this opinion. «By the end of 2022, it is likely that more than 100 million people on Earth will face starvation or acute famine, which the world has never seen before. Civil unrest could occur in many countries of the Middle East and Africa, «says Professor Sylvan Charlebois of Dalhousie University in Canada. A US academic source told RIA Novosti that global food security influenced by the ongoing «economic war against Russia». “It seems to me that the economic war against Russia is making the food situation even more dangerous, especially since food prices are closely linked to energy prices,” the source said. According to the source, many food producing countries have probably begun to restrict exports, with the desire of rich countries to create large stocks of products playing an important role.Russia is being forced to get richerThe Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates that in 2021 Russia and Ukraine are among the suppliers of a number of staple foods, including wheat and corn. Russia has also become the leading exporter of nitrogen fertilizers, the second largest supplier of potash fertilizers, and the third largest supplier of phosphate fertilizers. Western countries have imposed many sanctions in response to the Russian special operation to denazify and demilitarize Ukraine. A number of companies announced their withdrawal from the Russian market and the closure of production facilities in the country. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that Western companies that refuse to work with Russia did so under enormous pressure, but Russia will solve all the problems with the economy that the West creates for it. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at the military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and, as of March 25, they have completed the main tasks of the first stage — they have significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
