WEISENHOUSE, Germany (AP) – Seven major economies warn Saturday War in Ukraine is causing a global food and energy crisis that threatens poor countries and needs immediate steps to block grain supplies that are preventing Russia left Ukraine.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who hosted a meeting of G-7 diplomats, said the war had become a “global crisis”.
Bairbock said as many as 50 million people, mostly in Africa and the Middle East, are expected to go hungry in the coming months if ways are not found to free up Ukrainian wheat, which makes up a large part of the world’s supplies.
In a statement released at the end of a three-day summit on Germany’s Baltic coast, the G-7 pledged to provide additional humanitarian assistance to the most vulnerable.
“Russia’s aggressive war has created one of the worst food and energy crises in recent history, which now threatens the world’s most vulnerable,” the group said.
“We are ready to accelerate a coordinated multilateral response to maintain global food security and support our most vulnerable partners in this matter,” he added.
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Jolie said her country, another major agricultural exporter, was ready to send ships to European ports to deliver Ukrainian grain to those in need.
“We need to make sure these grains are sent to the world,” he told reporters. “Otherwise, millions of people will go hungry.”
The G-7 countries also urged China not to help Russia, including by violating international sanctions or justifying Moscow’s actions in Ukraine.
Beijing should support Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence, not “help Russia in an aggressive war,” they said.
The G-7 called on China to “stop manipulating information, disinformation and other means to legitimize Russia’s aggressive war against Ukraine”.
The group, which includes Great Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States, also reiterated its position that territories occupied by Russian forces should be returned to Ukraine.
“We cannot recognize the borders that Russia has pursued through military aggression,” they said.
The meeting in Weissenhaus, northeast of Hamburg, was named as an opportunity for officials to discuss the broader impact of the war on geopolitics, energy and food security, and ongoing international efforts to address changing climate and pandemics.
In a series of concluding remarks, the G-7 countries also discussed a wide range of global issues, from the situation in Afghanistan to tensions in the Middle East.
On Friday, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba appealed to friendly countries to provide more military support to Kiev and increase pressure on Russia, including the seizure of its assets abroad, to pay for the reconstruction of Ukraine.
Kuleb said his country was still ready to talk about unblocking Russia Grain stocks were blocked in Ukrainian silos And also about reaching a political agreement on the end of the war, but so far there has been “no positive response” from Moscow.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in an interview published on Saturday that he had seen no change in Putin’s stance recently.
Scholz, who frequently spoke with the Russian leader on the phone on Friday, told German news portal t-online that Putin had failed to achieve the military goals set at the start of the war, more he lost more Russian troops than he did. the Soviet Union disappeared. His ten -year campaign in Afghanistan.
“Putin must gradually begin to understand that the only way in this situation is to reach an agreement with Ukraine,” Scholz said.
One of the ideas discussed at the G-7 meeting was whether to use Russia’s frozen state assets abroad to pay for Ukraine’s reconstruction.
“Russia is responsible for the massive damage caused by this war,” Bairbock said. “And so it’s a question of justice that Russia has to pay the price.”
But he added that unlike Canada, where the law allows the reuse of confiscated funds, the legal basis for doing so in Germany is unclear.
“But that’s why such meetings are held to address these legal issues,” Bairbock said.
Many foreign ministers will attend an informal meeting of NATO diplomats in Berlin on Saturday and Sunday.
The meeting will discuss steps by Finland and Sweden to join a military alliance amid concerns over the Russian threat, as well as ways in which NATO can support Ukraine without interfering in the fighting.
U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who did not attend the G-7 summit after recovering from a COVID-19 infection, is expected to attend a NATO summit.
Source: Huffpost
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.