The United Nations once again warned that the blockade of Ukrainian ports by Russian troops is fraught with a global food crisis, which will lead to hunger, mass migration and political instability. The New York Times writes about it..

According to the Executive Director of the UN World Food Program David Beasley, Ukraine's silos are overflowing with grain, which in a normal year helps feed 400 million people around the world.. But due to the Russian war against Ukraine, the supply chain has been disrupted, and ports cannot operate normally near the center of the war zone..

Beasley made a four-day visit to Ukraine to explore ways to deliver food to the approximately 1 million residents of cities under Russian blockade, as well as to address the broader threat to global food markets..

Thus, the problem of global food supplies lies in the fact that the Ukrainian ports of Odessa, Chornomorsk, Yuzhny and Nikolaev on the Black Sea coast are not open now due to the expected Russian offensive.

Beasley noted that he called the Russian side and wrote out his concerns, but the Kremlin did not respond to any of the UN warnings..

“This is where the international community should intervene and make very serious decisions about protecting ports for humanitarian purposes and opening ports to the world.. Because the whole world will pay a price if we don't open the ports,"

Famine now threatens about 45 million people in 38 countries due to the combined losses from wars, droughts and the coronavirus pandemic, according to a UN official.. The impact of the Russian-Ukrainian war on food prices, fuel and transport costs will further increase this number and limit the ability of the UN to help them.

Thus, the operating costs of the UN food program increased by $71 million per month, which means that the organization will be able to feed 4-5 million fewer people a year just because of the increase in costs, Beasley said..

A more worrisome threat is a long-term challenge to global food markets. Ukrainian farmers can still reap the harvest that will help feed the world's hungry if the war stops now, he said, but not if southern ports and Black Sea shipping lanes remain closed..

Beasley urges G7 leaders and other governments to return unused agricultural land to production to compensate for possible loss of Ukrainian and Russian food supplies. However, he warned that the lack of food in the world market and a further sharp increase in food prices would spell disaster for poor countries..

" You will have destabilization of several peoples and you will have mass migration,"

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Earlier, the UN World Food Program called for access to the encircled cities of Ukraine.