Biden warns food shortages are ‘going to be real’ across the globe because of Putin invading the world’s ‘breadbasket’ Ukraine

  • President Joe Biden  said there will be food shortages around the globe because of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine
  • ‘It’s going to be real,’ he said. ‘Because both Russia and Ukraine have been the breadbasket of Europe in terms of wheat, for example’ 
  • The United States, through the Feed the Future initiative, will provide over $11 billion over the next five years to address food security threat 
  • Russia and Ukraine jointly account for around 25% of world wheat exports and 16% of world corn exports, leading to surging prices for the grains 

Joe Biden on Thursday said there will be food shortages around the globe because of Vladimir Putin‘s invasion of Ukraine.

‘It’s going to be real,’ he said. ‘Because both Russia and Ukraine have been the breadbasket of Europe in terms of wheat, for example.’

Food security, along with general humanitarian assistance, was one of the main topics of conversation in Biden’s trifecta of emergency meetings with NATO leaders, the European Union, and the G7. The summits were called to deal with the invasion of the Ukraine.

‘We are in the process of working out with our European friends, what it would be what it would take to help alleviate the concerns relative to food shortages. We also talked about a significant major US investment among others in terms of providing for the need for humanitarian assistance, including food as we move forward,’ he said.

Ukraine is a heavily agricultural country with winter wheat, spring barley, and corn as some of its main crops.

The United States, through the Feed the Future initiative, will provide over $11 billion over the next five years to address food security threats and malnutrition across the globe – with programming in many of the countries vulnerable to increases in food and fertilizer prices.

A senior administration told reporters in a briefing on Thursday that Russia’s invasion ‘jeopardizes global food security, particularly for vulnerable populations in the Middle East and Africa’ as farms are being destroyed.