Ukraine news – live: Zelensky accuses Putin of creating ‘artificial famine’ after Russia halts grain deal
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has accused his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of creating “conditions of artificial famine” after Russia suspended an UN-brokered grain export deal with Kyiv.
“How can Russia be among the G-20 if it is deliberately working for starvation on several continents,” Mr Zelensky said during an address on Ukrainian television, according to NBC News.
He said that Russia was “doing everything to ensure that millions of Africans, millions of residents of the Middle East and South Asia find themselves in conditions of artificial famine or at least a severe price crisis.”
Russia said on Saturday suspended participation in July’s Black Sea Grain Initiative, which allowed major exporter Ukraine to ship agricultural produce, after it accused Kyiv of carrying out drone attacks on its Black Sea fleet.
Ukraine’s infrastructure ministry said a total of 218 vessels were “effectively blocked” as a result of Moscow’s move.
Moscow has accused personnel from Britain’s Royal Navy of helping Ukraine to plan the alleged attack on its fleet at Sevastopol, and of involvement in the explosions which blew up the Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea last month.
