Putin warns of “real threat of famine” from “volatile” energy and food prices

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Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Thursday of the existence of a “real threat of famine” in the world due to the volatility of energy and food prices because of the war in Ukraine, unleashed on February 24 by order of the Russian president himself.

Putin said during the summit of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) held in the Kazakh capital Astana that there is “increased volatility” of prices that “leads to the deterioration of the quality of life in both developed and developing countries.”

“In fact, there is a real threat of famine and large-scale social uprisings, especially in the poorest countries,” Putin said, calling for “the elimination of all artificial and illegitimate barriers that prevent the restoration of the normal functioning of global supply chains.”

Thus, he said that this would allow “solving urgent problems in the field of food security” and defended that Russia is doing everything possible to deliver products to countries in need, as reported by the Russian news agency Interfax.

On the other hand, he has argued that “the world is becoming truly multipolar” and stressed the “very remarkable, if not key” role played by Asia in this situation. “There are new centers of power that are getting stronger,” he explained, while supporting “development and prosperity in Asia.”

“It is necessary for this to create a fully open space for mutually beneficial trade and investment cooperation, for the expansion and deepening of cooperative ties in various sectors of the economy,” he has maintained, as reported by the TASS news agency.

CICA, created at Kazakhstan’s initiative in 1992, is responsible for creating conditions for dialogue, decision-making and implementation of measures to ensure security in Asia. The body is made up of 27 countries in the region. Eight other countries and five international organizations have observer status.