US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged all countries at the United Nations to tell Russia to stop using the Black Sea as blackmail after Moscow quit a deal that had allowed Ukraine to safely ship its grain to global markets
and others have accused Russia of using food as a weapon of war by worsening a global food crisis when it invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the U.S. communique does not specifically call out any countries.that had allowed the safe Black Sea export of Ukraine grain for the past year. The pact was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey to help ease a global food crisis following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"In reality, sanctions explicitly exclude food and fertilizer," Blinken said. "At the time it abandoned the initiative, Russia was exporting more grain at higher prices than ever before." Blinken added that the United States would provide $362 million in new funding to "tackle the drivers of food insecurity and to enhance resilience" in 11 African countries and Haiti.
Separately, the Security Council in a formal statement adopted on Thursday, said it "strongly condemns the use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, which is prohibited by international humanitarian law, and the unlawful denial of humanitarian access."
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