MOSCOW, May 25th. The situation in Ukraine and anti-Russian sanctions provoked the largest food crisis since the Second World War. Europe, writes the Chinese edition of «Xinhua», has already felt it on itself. Europeans began to worry that they would not be able to eat three times a day. Due to the aggravation of the situation in Ukraine and restrictions against Moscow, sales of fertilizers from Russia and Belarus stopped, as a result of which their prices began to rise rapidly. In addition, wheat and corn exports from Russia and Ukraine were halted and food prices also skyrocketed, leaving people feeling «unprecedented pressure.» The European Central Bank estimates that food prices will remain high throughout 2022.» Prices are rising every week, and the situation is becoming unbearable, because the cost of literally everything is increasing,” Xinhua quotes a French farmer. “If we do not solve the problem with fertilizers and trade in them does not resume, next year the world will face very serious supply problem (food — Ed.),» Maximo Torero, chief economist at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, told the publication.Jeremy Clarkson: cannibalism threatens the world due to the Ukrainian crisisEarlier, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow does not interfere with Ukraine's grain exports, logistical problems arose through the fault of Kyiv, its troops mined their seaports. The Foreign Ministry added that «the talk about Russia's allegedly blocking the export of Ukrainian grain in the Black Sea ports and the resulting deficit in the grain market is nothing but speculation.» A former employee of the Odessa sea harbor told RIA Novosti that Ukraine is exporting wheat reserves from storage facilities in the port of Odessa by alternative routes under pressure from the European Union, despite the threat of a grain shortage in the country itself. Western politicians and media reports, is actively exported both by railway trains and barges along the Danube. According to him, Russia has reasonable suspicions that this grain is not going to the needs of the starving global South, but pumped into the granaries of European countries — this is how Ukraine pays for weapons supplied by the West. After the start of a special military operation to denazify and demilitarize Ukraine, Western countries strengthened the sanctions pressure on Moscow. Now the European Commission is discussing the sixth package of restrictive measures, which includes, in particular, a phase-out of Russian oil imports. It has not been possible to agree on it yet, as some countries, including Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria, require exceptions for themselves. Against this background, fuel prices are rising, which has already led to economic problems in Europe and the United States. Thus, annual inflation in 19 eurozone countries, according to preliminary estimates by Eurostat, accelerated in April to a record 7.5 percent, although a year ago the figure was only 1.6 percent. /strong>
