By: Zahid Jadwat

Analysts have warned that Russia’s ongoing blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports could plunge poor countries together with much of the rest of the world into a dire situation of food insecurity if it is sustained. This has prompted U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to seek a deal for grain shipments to resume.

Ukraine was the world’s fourth-largest grain exporter last season, shipping staples such as wheat and maize to Africa and the Middle East, as well as supplying half of the grain procured by the U.N.’s World Food Programme for emergency aid. The blockade has resulted in significant shortages of supply and soaring food prices in other parts of the globe.

In an interview on Radio Islam, founder and editor of EA Views Scott Lucas said: “The Russians are not only trying to effectively occupy… destroy Ukraine. They are blackmailing the world because given that Ukraine and Russia combined provide about 30% of key commodities such as wheat, it means that potentially 200 million people face food insecurity around the world because they can’t get this wheat… they can’t get basic commodities out of Ukraine”.

“This is a war which is not just confined to Ukraine. When Vladimir Putin invaded that country three months ago, he in some ways invaded all of our lives,” he said.

Recently, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the war had become a “global crisis” and that up to 50 million people, particularly in Africa and the Middle East, would face hunger in the coming months unless ways are found to release Ukrainian grain, which accounts for a sizeable share of the worldwide supply.

“Russia has deliberately chosen to extend the military war against Ukraine now as a grain or you can say grain war to many states in the world, especially in Africa,” she said.

“We must not be naive. This is not collateral damage. It is a deliberately chosen instrument in a hybrid war that is being waged right now. Russia is preparing the ground for new crises to deliberately weaken international cohesion against Russia’s war,” the foreign minister added.

Listen to the full interview here: