All around the world, food prices are soaring,
reaching levels we have not seen in over a decade. Droughts, storms and the
high cost of energy have already led to drastic price increases over the past
year, but when it comes to current record-level food prices, responsibility
lies with one man alone: Vladimir Putin.
اضافة اعلان
The Russian
president is waging an arbitrary war of aggression against Ukraine. His
military is bombing residential buildings and maternity hospitals, killing men,
women and children. His war of aggression is also making people around the
world go hungry, because Ukraine is one of the world’s most important
breadbaskets.
The Russian army is
purposefully targeting grain silos, tractors and fields. Ukrainian farmers are
unable to plant their crops due to the war. Hunger is being used as an
instrument of war.
In February, Russia
halted the export of many types of grain. As a result, the war in Ukraine may
also destroy livelihoods on the African continent, in the Arab world and in
other regions that import a large share of their wheat from Ukraine and Russia
through ports in which ships can no longer dock.
Since the beginning
of the war, the global price of wheat has increased by one third and the
already high cost of fertilizer has risen even more sharply.
Russia claims that European sanctions on Moscow have
caused the increase in the price of wheat. The reality is that not a single
sanction is directed at food shipments. Europe and the West have reacted to
Putin’s war of aggression by imposing targeted sanctions against those in
Moscow who have drawn up the plans for this destruction.
Since the beginning of the war, the global price of wheat has increased by one third and the already high cost of fertilizer has risen even more sharply.
We do not want war,
neither this nor any other war, because we believe in the vow that the
international community made in the Charter of the United Nations, reaffirming
the “faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human
person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small”.
Many people in
Russia do not want this war either. And Putin knows this. That is exactly why
he decreed that this war may not be called a war in his country.
What happens in one
part of the world has a direct impact on other parts. Consequently, we must
assume responsibility for each other, as a global community. This holds true
for the climate crisis, which we can only overcome by acting in concert, and it
holds just as true for this war.
Putin’s war of
aggression is not a purely European or Western affair. It affects us all, by
undermining international law, which makes our world a less safe place, and by
driving up wheat prices, which creates more hunger, suffering and instability
across the globe.
Remaining neutral
is not an answer, but rather a luxury that causes hunger.
We, for our part,
will do everything in our power to keep Putin’s war from imposing suffering on
more innocent people. For one thing, we will continue to advocate for open and
transparent global trade, so that food that is available can be distributed
equitably. Hoarding and halting exports — even though this is understandable in
individual cases — make the situation worse for everyone.
Germany also
continues to take direct action to mitigate hunger and malnourishment around
the world. We are the second-largest donor of humanitarian assistance to the
World Food Programme. In recent years, we have invested approximately 2 billion
euro annually in food security and rural development. Now, too, we will do our
utmost to weaken the effects of this wheat war.
It is in our common
interest to ensure that Putin’s war of aggression does not cause more
suffering, hunger and crises than it has so far. To succeed in this endeavor,
we must stand together.
Katja Keul is minister of state at the German Federal
Foreign Office. Niels Annen is parliamentary state secretary at the German
Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
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