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A top UN official has laid bare an uncomfortable truth hanging over the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as Vladimir Putin’s forces continue to rip through the region and disrupt global supply chains.
Together with Ukraine, Russia accounts for roughly 29 percent of the global wheat export market. The two countries are also big suppliers of metals and other commodities to the rest of the world.
Ukraine is considered by analysts to be the “breadbasket of Europe” and experts have long remained wary of what an invasion could do to the global food supply chain.
David Beasley, a former Republican governor of South Carolina who now heads the United Nations World Food Programme, has warned that the ports must be reopened within the next two months or Ukraine’s agriculture-dependent economy will collapse.
He called for further pressure from international governments to ensure trade resumed before any further damage could be done.
“Millions of people around the world will die because these ports are being blocked,” Mr. Beasley said during a conference discussing trade, CNN reported.
“If you don‘t get this port issue resolved and open, Ukraine’s economy completely collapses. It becomes landlocked like Moldova. The ports are critical. World leaders have got to put pressure on Russia in such a way that we can have absolute neutrality to move supplies in and out of Odessa.”
When asked what he’d say to the Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who is now reportedly battling serious health problems, Mr. Beasley said, “If you have any heart at all for the rest of the world, regardless of how you feel about Ukraine, you need to open up those ports.”
Full Story
Together with Ukraine, Russia accounts for roughly 29 percent of the global wheat export market. The two countries are also big suppliers of metals and other commodities to the rest of the world.
Ukraine is considered by analysts to be the “breadbasket of Europe” and experts have long remained wary of what an invasion could do to the global food supply chain.
David Beasley, a former Republican governor of South Carolina who now heads the United Nations World Food Programme, has warned that the ports must be reopened within the next two months or Ukraine’s agriculture-dependent economy will collapse.
He called for further pressure from international governments to ensure trade resumed before any further damage could be done.
“Millions of people around the world will die because these ports are being blocked,” Mr. Beasley said during a conference discussing trade, CNN reported.
“If you don‘t get this port issue resolved and open, Ukraine’s economy completely collapses. It becomes landlocked like Moldova. The ports are critical. World leaders have got to put pressure on Russia in such a way that we can have absolute neutrality to move supplies in and out of Odessa.”
When asked what he’d say to the Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who is now reportedly battling serious health problems, Mr. Beasley said, “If you have any heart at all for the rest of the world, regardless of how you feel about Ukraine, you need to open up those ports.”
Full Story
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