Officials in Ukraine are
accusing Russia
of grossly violating
international obligations.
That comes
after the Russian defense ministry said
all ships
sailing into ports in the Black Sea
would be considered military ships.
The Ukraine Foreign Ministry
went on to accused Russia
of trying to increase world
food prices through its withdrawal
from the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
What will be the impact
then on the global food supply?
I want to get our guests for that.
Joining us
now is Matthew Hollingworth,
the WFP Ukraine representative.
Matthew, really appreciate you
being with us this evening on the show.
I'm sure you have been seeing
you've seen the reporting
you would have
heard as well from your teams
on the ground
that the last three nights
that we have been showing
here of you
is Russia really pummeling the south
Odessa Nikolayev and targeting
Specifically, says
President Zelensky,
the country support infrastructure.
What impact
is this having on grain storage
and any possible shipments here
I mean, clearly
since the decision
by the Russian Federation
earlier this week
to pull out of the Black Sea initiative,
we have been looking very carefully
at the impact of our operations globally
and our operations here in Ukraine.
And the three key problems with Russia
pulling out,
terminating their involvement
in the Black Sea initiative.
The first of all, of course,
is that we relied
on the Black Sea initiative
to move 725,000 tons of food
to people
living in places like Afghanistan
and Yemen, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan,
and so on, countries
that desperately need
that food assistance.
And this was a country
where we could guarantee
on a high quality,
competitive market price, food
and it was the largest single
sourcing nation
last year for the World Food Program.
Despite the conflict,
despite the invasion.
So that's going to leave a massive hole
in our operations
of trying to get food to to,
you know, people around the world
that desperately need it.
There's 345 million people
living in severe food insecurity
right now.
So that shouldn't be underestimated.
The second thing, obviously,
is the impact
globally sorry,
on the food prices and availability.
We've seen an 8% rise
on both sides of the Atlantic
in the last 24 hours
on the price of wheat.
That's going to hit
a lot of poor people around the world
in their pocket.
It will mean global food insecurity
if those prices stick
and if they stick at that level.
But obviously what worries me is,
as the representative here
inside Ukraine,
is the devastating impact
on the farming economy of this country.
It's 15%.
Farmers are 15% of the employment
workforce of this country.
If they don't farm,
if there's no incentive to farm
because they can't get their produce
to market,
then it's going to have a long
lasting impact on this nation
as well as the rest of the world.
And that's just part of the food systems
truck drivers won't be having any work.
Stevedores in the ports
and all of the other food systems
activities that support
an agricultural economy
is important to this
all suffering because of this decision.
They're also interconnected
to focus on your on your first point,
the hole
it was going to leave in your operation
What are the options there, Matthew?
And then
to try to get the grain moving again,
do you believe, given everything
we've seen in the last few days,
the Russia will return to the agreement?
Or are you looking
option B, option C here
We are a humanitarian organization.
We were
we're used to working
in the most complex,
chaotic environments.
We've always got a plan B and a plan C.
What we hope, though, is that we can see
the world come together
to get the Russian Federation
back to the negotiating table.
I think, secretary general,
I made it very clear in his speech
earlier this week
that many of the issues
that the Russian Federation raised
have actually been part
or all were almost met.
So we want them to come back to the table
because it's not just about Ukraine.
It's about global food security.
And none of us in a time when we see,
you know,
weather extremes, climate extremes
around the world.
And we are still at a ten year
high in terms of food costs
around the world.
We can't afford to lose as important
a source and country
a food producer as this
from the global market.
Do you know Matthew, whether the U.N.
is already
talking is in conversation with President
Putin, with Russia to try and
bring him back on board?
You know, if these conversations are
happening behind the scenes,
Absolutely.
Certain the
United Nations
is not going to give up on this issue
and will continue
everything it can
to try and find a result to ensure
the safety of vessels
in the northwestern part of the Black Sea
to ensure that food can continue
to leave this country.
If we will certainly have other
options in terms of solidarity
lanes, in terms of other
routes out of the country.
But none of them are going to replace
what we've currently lost.
But it's only a few days.
The market still is jittery.
We need to see how the rest of the world
actually recovers in terms of the market,
whether it can stabilize.
And we need to have
a little bit of time yet
to get these actors back together
and negotiating
and coming to an agreement.
Speaking of actors in negotiating here,
I was speaking, Matthew,
to one of the negotiators
behind the Green Deal
and this is what he told me yesterday.
Have a listen to this.
They will probably
find it hard to walk back,
so they will probably only agree
to humanitarian shipments.
I think the World Food Program
could could step in.
I think if Russia would agree to that,
so that at least, you know,
the world's most needy
people in the world's most food
short countries would get
supplies from Ukraine,
which is such a big contributor
to the grain market.
And Matthew,
I mean, David Harland was pretty
pessimistic when I spoke to him yesterday
about Russia coming back on board.
What do you make then of this idea
that Russia may only agree
to humanitarian shipments
and the WFP
would probably have to step in?
Is that part of the other considerations
that you are looking at?
You think are being talked about here
I mean, from from our
perspective of the 33 million
tons of food
that managed to get out of Ukraine
since last
July through the Black Sea initiative,
20% of it went to the global south,
and that was trading
that was through normal
economic agreements between those nations
and this nation.
The humanitarian assistance that went out
is very, very important.
But we can't underestimate the importance
of global availability,
global accessibility because of Ukraine.
So I think we need to push harder
than than
simply only having a humanitarian
delivery system
through some sort of partial agreement.
We need more than that.
If we're going to actually achieve
and continue
to achieve some form of stability
when the world already is seeing
just enormous,
enormous levels of food insecurity.
I think Hollingworth
really appreciate you taking the time
to speak to us this evening, Matthew.
Thank you very much.