"We Are Extraordinarily Close," - U.S. Warns that Russia To Trigger Famine That Might Kill Millions

A Key U.S. official for global food security warned on Tuesday that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has brought the world to the brink of a mass international famine that "will kill millions of people," TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

“We are extraordinarily close,” Ambassador Cindy McCain, who heads the U.S. mission to the United Nations Food Agencies in Rome, said in response to TURAN's question during a virtual briefing organized by the State Department's Brussels Media Hub.

"I think the timeline depends on whether Russia decides to pull out or continue this insane war. Timelines are critical, though, because we’re looking at famine in a large portion of the world... We’re also looking at food prices skyrocketing, and if trade is cut off and if exports are cut off, then we have... food hoarding," the Ambassador said.

"We are going to be faced with a very serious crisis – we already are, but this could move into the kinds of things with regards to famine and others that will really not just disrupt the world, but it will kill millions of people. That’s what we’re faced with right now." she added.

Washhington believes that Russian forces are committing war crimes by weaponizing Ukraine’s food supply.

“We’ve heard they’ve been stealing grain. We’ve heard that they emptied some of the silos. The critically cruel thing they have done is they’ve put landmines in most of the agricultural fields,” she said when asked to provide examples of Russian forces attacking Ukraine’s food supply.

“I stand by what I said. I think what they are doing is war crimes,” she added.

McCain said that the targeting of rail lines into Ukraine and the bombardment around the country’s ports have further exacerbated food security around the world.

"We are facing the most serious food crisis in over 70 years – the worst since World War II.  We have to act now," she added.

The U.S. has called for the “Days of Action” on May 18-19th, to rally the world to take steps to bolster food supply chains and strengthen food resilience.

Secretary Blinken will chair a “Global Food Security Call to Action” on May 18th with foreign ministers from dozens of regionally diverse countries to review the urgent humanitarian needs and identify steps to build resilience for the future.

On the next day, acting in the U.S. capacity as President of the UN Security Council for the month of May, Secretary Blinken will chair a meeting of the UNSC focused on the link between food security and conflict, McCain said.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.