BRUSSELS
\nRussia is putting the world at risk of famine through its blockade of Ukraine\u2019s shipments of grains and restrictions on its own exports, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Saturday.
\nThe threat to food security and a \u201cbattle of narrative\u201d with Russia on Western-imposed sanctions on Moscow over Ukraine will dominate European Union foreign ministers\u2019 talks in Luxembourg on Monday.
\n\u201cWe are ready to work with the UN and our partners to prevent any unwanted impact on global food security,\u201d Borrell said in an article published on his official blog.
\n\u201cRussia\u2019s conscious political choice is to \u2018weaponize\u2019\u201d grain exports and \u201cuse them as a tool for blackmail against anyone that opposes its aggression\u201d in Ukraine, Borrell said.
\n\u201cRussia turned the Black Sea into a war zone, blocking shipments of grain and fertilizer from Ukraine but also affecting Russian merchant shipping. Russia is also applying quotas and taxes on its grain exports,\u201d he added.
\nThe sanctions imposed by the EU \u201cdo not prohibit Russia to export any agricultural goods, payment for such Russian exports or the provision of seeds, provided that sanctioned individuals or entities are not involved.\u201d \u201cWe are fully aware that there is a \u2018battle of narratives\u2019 around this issue\u201d of sanctions, Borrell continued.
\nHe added that it was imperative that Ukrainian exports be allowed to resume by ship.
\n\u201cWe are working closely with the UN on this issue and the EU and its member states are ready to do their part of the necessary actions to achieve this.
\n\u201cWe hope that a solution can be found in the coming days. Not doing this threatens to cause a global food catastrophe,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BRUSSELS Russia is putting the world at risk of famine through its blockade of Ukraine\u2019s shipments of grains and restrictions on its own exports, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Saturday. The threat to food security and a \u201cbattle of narrative\u201d with Russia on Western-imposed sanctions on Moscow over Ukraine will dominate European Union […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266815,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[2064,3552,338],"class_list":{"0":"post-266784","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-famine","10":"tag-russia"},"yoast_head":"\n