Antony Blinken leads UN bid to fix Ukraine war food price crisis

Ukrainian farmers are struggling to sow crops and export grain through Russia's naval blockade

A farmer in Ukraine's Khmelnytsky region. The Russian invasion has caused food prices to rise worldwide, particularly for cereals and flour, as Ukraine is a major supplier of wheat and corn. EPA

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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will host dozens of counterparts at the United Nations next week in a bid to tackle a global hunger crisis caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the agricultural chaos it has spawned, officials said on Tuesday.

Cindy McCain, a US anti-hunger envoy and the widow of one-time Republican presidential candidate John McCain, said talks in New York led by Antony Blinken would raise funds for urgent food aid and seek long-term solutions to global hunger.

Farmers in Ukraine, until recently one of the world's top grain exporters, have struggled to sow crops since Russia’s invasion and its naval blockade has disrupted exports, triggering rising price and worsening the threat of hunger across much of Africa, the Middle East and beyond.

“We’re facing the most serious food crisis in more than 70 years, the worst since the Second World War. We have to act now,” said Ms McCain, Washington’s envoy to the UN’s food agencies.

Russian forces have strewn landmines and booby traps across agricultural land and stolen farming equipment during their 10-week invasion of Ukraine, leaving farmers unable to plant crops this season, Ms McCain told reporters on Tuesday.

The bombing of railway lines and a blockade on Ukraine’s ports has hampered exports, she said.

She urged Russian President Vladimir Putin, who ordered what he calls a “special military operation” in Ukraine on February 24, to “stop this senseless, unjustified war” immediately.

Talks at UN headquarters will “rally the world to take steps to bolster food supply chains and strengthen food resilience” and “mobilise support for the UN's humanitarian and food organisations as they respond to the crisis at hand”, she said.

Mr Blinken will on May 19 host talks on the link between war and hunger, Ms McCain said. The US holds the UN Security Council’s rotating presidency for the month.

Ukraine's leading agricultural group Ukrlandfarming said on Tuesday that Russia's military assault had caused losses of hundreds of millions of dollars, mainly due to the lack of access to land and the destruction of farms.

The company, which produces grain, meat, sugar and eggs, said it had lost control of 40 per cent of its land portfolio – mostly areas in the south and east that have been occupied by Russian forces or where fighting made farming too dangerous.

Werner Hoyer, president of the European Investment Bank, on Tuesday said Ukraine was "sitting on €8 billion [$8.43bn] worth of wheat" it could not export due to the war and its lack of access to sea trade.

Speaking at the European Commission in Brussels, Mr Hoyer said Ukrainian farmers in some areas had continued sowing seeds and expected a “good harvest” in coming weeks, but that blockaded seaports would prevent exports.

Ukraine was the world's fourth-largest exporter of maize in the 2020/21 season and the sixth-biggest wheat exporter, International Grains Council data indicates. But nearly 25 million tonnes of grains are now stuck in the besieged country, the UN says.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that trade at the country's ports was at a standstill and urged the international community to take immediate steps to end a Russian blockade to allow wheat shipments to reach needy importers across the developing world.

“For the first time in decades and decades, in Odesa there is no regular movement of the merchant fleet, there is no routine port work," Mr Zelenskyy said in a video address. "This has probably never happened in Odesa since the Second World War.

“And this is a blow not only to Ukraine. Without our agricultural exports, dozens of countries in different parts of the world are already on the brink of food shortages. And over time, the situation can become, frankly, frightening.”

Family members mourn at the graveside of soldier Yuri Varyanytsia during the burial of three soldiers in the Field of Mars at Lychakiv cemetery in Lviv, Ukraine. Getty Images

A pedestrian takes a picture as she walks past the wreckage of a Russian armoured vehicle outside the National Museum of Military History of Ukraine in Kyiv. AFP

A man rides his bicycle over a heavily damaged bridge near Pechenegi village in the Kharkiv region, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. AFP

Pro-Russian troops fire from a tank near the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. Reuters

Workers sew uniforms and material for flack jackets at a military clothing factory in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine. Getty Images

A dog provides company at a flat damaged by a missile attack in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine. AFP

Patron, a dog trained by Ukrainian forces to sniff out explosives, near Kyiv. EPA

Lone skater Roman Kovalenko, 18, amid the damage at Peace Square in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine. All of his friends have fled. AFP

A Ukrainian sapper carries unexploded materiel during demining works at an airport in the town of Hostomel, north-west of Kyiv. AFP

Shelling of the Azovstal steel plant complex in Mariupol. Reuters

Violinist Irene Duval rehearses before a fundraiser to support Ukrainians arriving in the UK, at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in London. PA

A serviceman stands guard at the destroyed Ukrainian Antonov An-225 'Mriya' cargo aircraft in Hostomel. AFP

Galina Malets falls to her knees before the funeral service for her brother, fallen soldier Igor Malets, 59, in Lviv. Getty

Explosions at the Azovstal steel plant in besieged Mariupol, where Ukrainian forces continue to hold out against Russian invaders. AFP

A Ukrainian woman collects her belongings after her apartment was damaged by a missile explosion in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine. AFP

An apartment block damaged by a missile explosion in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine. AFP

Devastation around an apartment block hit by a missile in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine. AFP

Ukrainian men at the site of a missile explosion in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine. AFP

An elderly refugee from Avdiivka, eastern Ukraine, at a lunch provided by church group Awakening in Pokrovsk. AFP

Natalia Rudneva, 59, was injured in overnight shelling in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, that put her son in hospital. AP

Shocked occupants of an apartment building in Kramatorsk, Donbas, that was destroyed by overnight shelling . AP

A man outside his house in Mariupol, in territory under the government of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic, eastern Ukraine. The sign reads 'Bomb shelter, children'. AP

A woman passes Donetsk People's Republic militia tanks in Mariupol, eastern Ukraine. AP

A refugee camp outside Mariupol, in territory controlled by the government of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic. AP

The damaged St Godmothers Cover Church next to a bullet-riddled Ukrainian flag in Malyn, Ukraine. Getty Images

St Godmothers Cover Church, in Malyn, Ukraine. Getty Images

The ruins of an apartment building in Borodianka, Ukraine. Getty Images

Firefighters from the self-declared Donetsk People Republic Emergency Situations Ministry battle a blaze at an oil depot after missiles struck the facility in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces in Makiivka, 15 kilometres east of Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. AP

People wait for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to begin a speech televised on a screen in City Hall Square in Copenhagen, Denmark. Reuters

An aerial view of the destroyed Hotel Ukraine in the northern city of Chernigiv. AFP

A woman who recently lost her husband arrives with her dog at a charity centre in Pokrovsk, eastern Ukraine. AFP

A family of Ukrainian evacuees near a donation collection point in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. Reuters

The ruins of a residential building in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernigiv, which was heavily damaged during the Russian invasion. AFP

People pay their respects during the funeral for Ukrainian serviceman Ruslan Borovyk in St Michael's Cathedral in Kyiv. AP

Crew chiefs and engineers with the 158th Fighter Wing meet before launching F-35A Lightning II fifth-generation aircraft at the Vermont Air National Guard Base, South Burlington, US. More than 200 Vermont air guard personnel, plus equipment and eight F-35s, are now in Europe. AP

Svitlana, 36, holds her sons Artem, 7, and Kyrylo, 5, while sheltering in a kindergarten in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine. Getty Images

Men report to enlist in Ukrainian Territorial Defence Force units in Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine. Getty Images

A burning oil storage unit on the outskirts of Donetsk, Ukraine. Reuters

Russian MiG-29SMT jet fighters, forming the symbol Z in support of Russian military action in Ukraine, fly over Red Square in Moscow during a rehearsal for the Second World War Victory Parade on May 9, 2022. AFP

A warehouse after shelling in Severodonetsk, as fighting rages across Ukraine's east after a US warning that Moscow is preparing to formally annex eastern regions. AFP

Katya, 11, waits for her mother's treatment to end at the Severodonetsk Hospital in Severodonetsk. AFP

Antonina, 60, at a funeral home where she works and now lives with neighbours in Severodonetsk. AFP

A Russian serviceman patrols a street near the sea port of Berdyansk, Ukraine. AFP

A woman during the rally in front of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's office in Kyiv. AFP

Svitlana Karpenko, 53, at what is left of her house in Sloboda, Chernihiv region, Ukraine. She said it was destroyed by shelling. Reuters

The turret from a destroyed Russian tank stuck in the ground in Zalissia, Kyiv region, Ukraine. Reuters

Lyubov Lenko, 61, in front of her house in Budy, Chernihiv region, Ukraine, that she says was destroyed by shelling. Reuters

Nina Stefuryak, 2, playing in a park in front of a building destroyed by shelling in Borodianka, Kyiv region, Ukraine. Reuters

Mealtime at a centre for displaced people in Zaporizhzhia. AP

Volunteers assist a man after his arrival from Mariupol at a centre for displaced people in Zaporizhzhia. AP

People disembark a van to be registered by police after arriving in Zaporizhzhia. Getty Images

Firefighters damp down the ashes of a fire that destroyed a children's play area in Gorky Park in Kharkiv, Ukraine. EPA

A woman touches a piano as she inspects the damage in a classroom after shelling at Kharkiv National Kotlyarevsky University of Arts. EPA

US President Joe Biden and Lockheed Martin chief executive Jim Taiclet with Javelin anti-tank missile assembly workers during a tour of a Lockheed Martin weapons factory in Troy, Alabama, US. Reuters

Residents collect humanitarian aid in Borodyanka, Ukraine. Getty Images