The Italian Foreign Minister, Luigi di Maio, assured today that "the world bread war has already begun" due to the grain blockade in Ukraine, which prevents many vulnerable countries from having access to grain, and that implies "the risk of new conflicts breaking out in Africa".
"The global bread war is already underway and we must stop it. We risk political instability in Africa, the proliferation of terrorist organizations, coups: This can be caused by the cereal crisis that we are experiencing"DiMaio said.
Ukraine was before the war one of the world’s leading exporters of grain and agricultural fertilizers and their goods were essential for food security from areas such as the Middle East and North Africa.
Russian President Vladimir Putin "must reach a peace agreement as soon as possible, which also includes an agreement on grain, such as a ceasefire agreement that allows us to evacuate the women, civilians and children who are under Russian bombs in the east from Ukraine for 100 days"he added.
"There are 30 million tons of grain blocked in Ukrainian ports by Russian warships"specified Di Maio, who indicated that "what we are doing is working for Russia to unblock the export of wheat to Ukrainian ports, because right now we run the risk of new wars breaking out in Africa".
The head of Italian diplomacy recalled that "we will hold a first dialogue session with the Mediterranean countries on food security, we will work with all partners together with Germany, Turkey, France and many others to reach the goal of unlocking the quantities of wheat that must leave Ukraine".
Italy offered a few days ago to demine Ukraine’s ports and create "maritime corridors" for the transport of wheat and the prime minister, Mario Draghi, telephoned Putin, to ask him to unblock the export of grain from Ukraine, also from the ports of the Black Sea and Sea of ​​Azov, such as Mariúpol, invaded by Russian troops.
The Russian president replied that if the West lifted sanctions on Russia, his country could export grain.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), headquartered in Rome, has warned of the repercussions that the war between Ukraine and Russia, both giant grain exporters, is having on food security around the world.
Italy is organizing a Ministerial Dialogue with the Mediterranean countries for June 8, in collaboration with the FAO, to understand the needs and outline intervention measures in the face of the serious repercussions of the war on food security, in particular in the Mediterranean and Africa.