The UK has been warned that its food prices will surge even higher after Vladimir Putin accused the Royal Navy of helping Ukraine carry out a drone attack on Russia's Black Sea Fleet on Saturday. It comes after Russia also suggested the Royal Navy was responsible for a rupture to the Nord Stream pipeline in the Baltic Sea last month
The UK's Ministry of Defence has accused Russia of 'peddling false claims'. However, the Russian Defence Ministry says Moscow has moved to suspend its implementation of a UN-brokered grain export deal which has seen more than nine million tons exported from Ukraine and brought down global food prices.
The ministry cited the alleged Ukrainian drone attack against Russia’s Black Sea Fleet ships moored off the coast of occupied Crimea, which Russia says took place early on Saturday, as the reason for the move. Ukraine has also denied the attack.
A Russian defence ministry spokesperson said. “The actions of the Ukrainian armed forces, led by British specialists… mean the Russian side cannot guarantee the safety of civilian dry cargo ships,”
David Laborde from the International Food Policy Research Institute told the Telegraph: "Food is already expensive and this is going to make it more expensive.” He said wheat prices could by 10 per cent when the markets open on Monday - and that the effects will be felt across the world for months.
A Whitehall source told the Telegraph: “Ukraine is one of the largest exporters of wheat and grain in the world. If you restrict the export of that good, the price of that good increases, and that is felt across the entire world. It will have an impact."
The Russian declaration came one day after UN chief Antonio Guterres urged Russia and Ukraine to renew the deal. Mr Guterres also urged other countries, mainly in the West, to expedite the removal of obstacles blocking Russian grain and fertiliser exports.
The UN chief underlined the urgency of renewing the deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in July, which expires on November 19, “to contribute to food security across the world, and to cushion the suffering that this global cost-of-living crisis is inflicting on billions of people”, his spokesman said.
He added that UN officials were in touch with Russian authorities over the announced suspension. “It is vital that all parties refrain from any action that would imperil the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which is a critical humanitarian effort that is clearly having a positive impact on access to food for millions of people,” said the spokesman, Stephane Dujarric.
Russia’s UN Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said before Moscow discusses a renewal “Russia needs to see the export of its grain and fertilisers in the world market, which has never happened since the beginning of the deal”.
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