UNITED NATIONS — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken challenged all international locations Thursday to inform Russia to cease utilizing the Black Sea and Ukraine’s grain as “blackmail” and cease treating the world’s hungry and weak folks as leverage in its “unconscionable war.”

America’s prime diplomat lashed out at Russia at a U.N. Security Council assembly for ignoring the world’s appeals and pulling out of the year-old deal that allowed Ukraine to ship greater than 32 tons of grain from Black Sea ports to needy international locations.

“And what has Russia’s response been to the world’s distress and outrage? Bombing Ukrainian granaries, mining port entrances, threatening to attack any vessel in the Black Sea,” he mentioned.

Blinken was chairing the signature occasion of the United States’ council presidency this month on battle as a key driver of starvation and famine.

He introduced that the United States, which has offered greater than $17.5 billion since January 2021 to handle famine and meals insecurity, will give $362 million extra to sort out the drivers of starvation in Haiti and 11 African international locations.

He pointed to the U.N. World Food Program, which mentioned final week it wants $20 billion to ship assist to everybody in want however was aiming for between $10 billion to $14 billion, the quantity it has obtained up to now few years. So far this 12 months, nonetheless, WFP mentioned it had obtained solely round $5 billion and due to this fact 38 of 86 international locations the place it operates have already seen cuts or are planning cuts in meals help quickly.

“The cost of that shortfall will be measured in growth stunted and in lives lost,” Blinken mentioned.

He additionally implicitly criticized China, which is the world’s second-largest financial energy behind the United States, saying: “The world’s largest economies should be the world’s largest donors, for member states to consider themselves global leaders. This is your chance to prove it.”

Blinken added that “All of us. All of us can dig deeper.”

At the beginning of the assembly, the Security Council adopted a presidential assertion, permitted by all 15 members, strongly condemning “the use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare” and expressing concern on the rising variety of armed conflicts everywhere in the globe.

In 2022, “armed conflict was the most significant driver of high levels of acute food insecurity for roughly 117 million people in 19 countries and territories,” the council mentioned, including that an estimated 148.1 million youngsters below the age of 5 endure from stunted progress due to malnutrition.

The United States circulated a communique to the 193 U.N. member states searching for commitments “to take action to end the use of food as a weapon of war and the starvation of civilians as a tactic of warfare.” Blinken mentioned 91 international locations have signed, lower than half the membership.

The Security Council assertion burdened the necessity “to break the vicious cycle between armed conflict and food insecurity.”

David Miliband, president of the International Rescue Committee, reminded the council it referred to as for that hyperlink to be damaged 5 years in the past, however right now “there is more armed conflict, more famine, more malnutrition, and more and more food insecurity.”

He mentioned each evaluation has the identical listing of nations the place battle is driving starvation: Somalia, Afghanistan, Yemen, Nigeria, South Sudan, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Mali and Haiti.

Miliband referred to as for motion – no more phrases – to assist the 375,000 individuals who confronted famine-like circumstances on the finish of 2022 and the 35 million on the brink.

As an instance, he mentioned, 80% of acutely malnourished youngsters aren’t getting any therapy due to divided approaches towards average and extreme malnutrition. He mentioned the answer is solely to place a tape round a toddler’s arm and measure the circumference to diagnose malnutrition and supply one or two doses of therapeutic meals per day relying on whether or not the case is extreme or average.

Miliband informed the council there's additionally a proliferation of various world initiatives on famine and meals insecurity. He referred to as for a single physique to provoke collective motion - the U.N. High Level Task Force on Preventing Famine established in 2021 and headed by Reena Ghelani.

Ghelani mentioned worldwide collaboration is crucial. She informed the council that in too many diet wards and camps for the displaced she has visited, the eerie silence of babies preventing for his or her lives who're too weak to cry due to malnutrition “never leaves you.”

“That silence is also a call for action,” she mentioned. “Business as usual will not work.”

Representatives of 80 international locations had been on the listing of audio system on the day-long council assembly.

Russia’s deputy U.N. ambassador Dmitry Polyansky responded to the criticism over its withdrawal from the Black Sea grain deal by claiming that it had turn into business, not humanitarian. He accused the West of turning into inquisitive about the specter of world starvation “only insofar as they think they can attempt to exploit this topic to demonize Russia” and indulge their “pipe dreams” of defeating it in Ukraine.

Nonetheless, Polyansky held open the opportunity of resuming the Black Sea deal if the West ensures that Russian grain and fertilizer can get to international locations in want “without hindrance.”

Blinken informed reporters after chairing the assembly that if Russia returns to the settlement, the U.S. will proceed “to do whatever is necessary to make sure that everyone can export their food and food products freely and safely, to include Russia.”

“We want to see that food on world markets,” he mentioned. “We want everyone to benefit from the lower prices.”

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