A senior official in Moscow later dismissed the allegations, saying the Russians were “not stupid” and would not export food while they were subject to severe penalties.
In a speech to the UN Security Council, Blinken appealed to Russia to stop blockading Ukrainian ports.
“The Russian government seems to believe that using food as a weapon will help achieve what its invasion did not do, which is to break the morale of the Ukrainian people,” he said.
“The food supplies of millions of Ukrainians and millions of others around the world are literally being held hostage by the Russian army.”
The war in Ukraine caused global prices for grain, cooking oils, fuel and fertilizer to rise.
Together, Russia and Ukraine produce nearly a third of the world’s wheat supply. Ukraine is a major exporter of corn, barley, sunflower oil and rapeseed oil, while Russia and Belarus, which backed Moscow in its war in Ukraine, account for more than 40 percent of global exports of potash, which is used as a fertilizer.
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Telegram that the Russians are skilled in producing foodstuffs that are required around the world under the right conditions.
“Everything seems illogical, on the one hand crazy sanctions are being imposed, while on the other there are demands for food,” wrote Medvedev, who is now deputy head of the Russian Security Council.
“It doesn’t work that way. We are not stupid.”
Medvedev stated that crop production requires people skilled in farming, as well as the right equipment and fertilizers.
“Russia knows how to do this,” he said. “We have every opportunity to ensure that there is food in other countries, so that crises do not occur. Just do not prevent us from working.”
Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, dismissed as “completely wrong” any suggestion that Russia is responsible for a global food crisis that has been brewing for several years.
He also accused Ukraine of detaining foreign ships in its ports and mine waters.
“The decision to use food as a weapon is the decision of Moscow, and Moscow alone. As a result of the actions of the Russian government, there are about 20 million tons of grain unused in Ukrainian silos with the global food supply dwindling, and prices skyrocketing,” Blinken said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is seeking to broker a “comprehensive deal” that would allow Ukraine to resume food exports through the Black Sea and increase Russian food and fertilizer on world markets.
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