Blinken At G20 Summit Urges Russian Diplomats To Stop Blocking Ukrainian Grain - Media

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken at a meeting of G20 foreign ministers accused Russian diplomats in the role of Moscow of deteriorating global food security and urged them to stop blocking Ukrainian grain exports.

This is reported by Bloomberg, citing a well-informed American official who asked not to be named.

According to the interlocutor of the agency, Blinken told Russian diplomats that Ukraine does not belong to Russia. The U.S. Secretary of State urged them to stop blocking Ukrainian seaports and allow Ukraine to export grain.

Blinken publicly confirmed his position to journalists before a bilateral meeting with Indian Prime Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

"Unfortunately, tragically, many of the problems that the world is facing that affect people's lives, especially when it comes to food, energy - these problems have sharply escalated as a result of Russia's aggression against Ukraine," Blinken said.

The interlocutor of the agency noted that Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was not present in the room where Blinken and other diplomats from the Russian Federation were.

Lavrov also walked out on German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock during the first plenary session at the G20 meeting. The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry also walked out on the head of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Dmytro Kuleba, during the second meeting.

Recall, according to the United Nations, as a result of a full-scale invasion of Russia in Ukraine, about 25 million tons of grain, destined for export to other countries, were stuck.

The UN also said that Russia's war against Ukraine threatens a wave of hunger and poverty for the whole world.

Earlier we wrote that in Africa, more than a third of a billion people are facing serious food shortages, which in the near future could turn into a humanitarian catastrophe.