TELFS, Austria — The Group of Seven nations on Tuesday pledged to spend $4.5 billion addressing a worldwide food crisis fueled by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The dedication got here as leaders from the world’s main developed economies, together with President Joe Biden, wrapped up a three-day summit in Germany targeted on supporting Kyiv and combatting Moscow.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war has additionally stoked a rising international food crisis that has impacted weak individuals from the Middle East to the Horn of Africa, with the United States and its allies accusing the Kremlin of intentionally utilizing starvation as a weapon.
Of the full dedicated by the G-7, the U.S. will commit $2.76 billion, which is able to come from the Ukraine assist package deal handed by Congress earlier this yr, mentioned a senior U.S. administration official. The funding will assist efforts in additional than 47 international locations and regional organizations.
“Putin’s actions have been at the core and the thing from which you can draw a direct line to all of the vulnerability that we’re seeing around the world in terms of food security,” the official mentioned. “His actions have strangled food and agricultural production, and used food as a weapon of war.”
Of the U.S. funds, $2 billion will go to quick direct humanitarian interventions and $760 million can be used to assist enhance resilience and productiveness of the worldwide food system, the official mentioned.
“We, the leaders of the G-7, will spare no effort to increase global food and nutrition security and to protect the most vulnerable, whom the food crisis threatens to hit the hardest,” the leaders mentioned in a press release Tuesday.
While the leaders mentioned addressing food shortages was a prime precedence on the assembly, that they had no resolution for a way to get Ukraine’s grain in another country. “We’re working on it,” said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson when the leaders were asked about a plan by a reporter.
Ukraine has been a major supplier of wheat, corn and sunflower oil for many of the world’s poorest countries, but food exports from the country have ground to a halt as a result of a Russian blockade of Black Sea ports and the destruction of agricultural facilities and equipment.
That has led to a surge in prices for those commodities, putting them out of reach for many lower income countries. The U.S. Agency for International Development estimates 750,000 people are at immediate risk of starvation around the world as a result of the war in Ukraine.
There have been widespread protests in recent weeks around the world over the soaring cost of food. In Ecuador, protests over the rising price of food and fuel have ensnared the country’s capital for weeks and threaten to unseat its president.
The pledge on food security came as G-7 leaders ended their summit Tuesday, with Biden heading to a NATO summit in Madrid.
The gathering focused heavily on coordinating the countries’ assistance to Ukraine and efforts to put pressure on Russia to end the conflict.
But China was also a major focus for the group during the three days of meetings, said the U.S. official. In the group’s communique to be released later today, the leaders will address the “harms caused by China’s non-transparent market distorting industrial directives,” mentioned the official.
“The leaders will commit to working together to develop a coordinated approach to remedy China’s non-market practices to help ensure a level playing field for businesses and workers,” the official said.
The leaders will also address forced labor practices in China and “debt traps” created by China’s infrastructure projected in lower-income countries, the official said.
