Biden warns of ‘real’ food shortages due to Russia-Ukraine war [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• President Joe Biden warned that the Russian-Ukraine war will likely cause ‘real’ global food shortages because both countries are major wheat suppliers.
• “The price of these sanctions is not just imposed upon Russia; it’s imposed upon an awful lot of countries as well,” Biden said.
• In the U.S., food prices have already soared due to inflation even before Russia attacked Ukraine.

President Joe Biden said Thursday that there can be global food shortages due to the continuing Russian invasion of Ukraine. He warned that the full-scale attack would is affecting wheat supplies worldwide.

Together, Russia and Ukraine supply nearly a fourth of the world’s wheat exports.

“With regard to food shortages, yes we did talk about food shortages. And then it’s going to be real,” Biden said during a press conference in Brussels, Belgium. The president attended meetings of NATO and G7 leaders.

Biden added that the cost of the sanctions is not just imposed upon Russia. “It’s posted upon an awful lot of countries as well, including European countries and our country as well,” he said.

“Both Russia and Ukraine have been the breadbasket of Europe in terms of wheat, for example, just to give one example.”

To offset the supply drop, Biden said that Canada and the U.S. will look for ways to boost wheat production. Russia already reduced wheat shipments to friendly former Soviet republics in Central Asia.

“We had a long discussion in the G7 with both the United States, which has a significant — the third largest producer of wheat in the world, as well as Canada, which is also a major, major producer, and we both talked about how we could increase and disseminate more rapidly food shortages,” Biden said.

Biden also said that the world leaders talked about urging all European and other countries to end trade limitations on sending food overseas. He added that the U.S. is “in the process of working out with our European friends what it would be, what it would take to help alleviate the concerns relative to food shortages.”

According to the president, he discussed with the leaders “about a significant, major US investment among others in terms of providing for the need for humanitarian assistance, including food as we move forward.”

Food prices have already increased in the U.S. due to inflation hitting 7.9 percent in February. The Russian invasion only started on February 24. Gas prices also spiked after the war. The US imposed sanctions by blocking imports of Russian oil and natural gas. European allies opted not to do the same to limit the effect on global oil prices.

Source: New York Post