

In a call with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday, they discussed how to reopen “critical sea and land supply” chains.Īntony Blinken, the US secretary of state, said: “The food supply for millions of Ukrainians, and millions more around the world, has quite literally been held hostage by the Russian military.”

“When he blocks our ports, by this means he is blackmailing the world.”īoris Johnson branded the blockade “craven and reckless” and said he had “significant concerns”. 'Craven and reckless'Īla Stoyanova, the deputy governor of the city, said: “It is his aim, I think, to make these poor countries starve from hunger without this grain.

Officials in the key Ukrainian port of Odesa told The Telegraph Putin was trying to starve the world’s poorest people. The UN urged Russia to end the blockade and warned rising global food prices could lead to “mass hunger and famine”. Vladimir Putin has been blocking Ukrainian ports to stop grain and other produce leaving the so-called “breadbasket of Europe”, triggering a global food crisis. US officials said sea-skimming Harpoon and Naval Strike Missiles could be dispatched, either directly, or by European allies equipped with them.Ī handful of nations were said to be open to sending Harpoons, which have a range of up to almost 300km, but there was hesitation over being the first to do so amid concerns over escalation. The United States is considering sending Ukraine advanced anti-ship missiles to sink Russian war vessels in the Black Sea and end the Kremlin’s naval food blockade.
