Global Food Crisis Tests Western Resolve to Retain Russia Sanctions

In Yemen, the price of bread surged 35 percent the week Russia invaded Ukraine. Wheat mills lacking grain in Lebanon have halted operations in recent months, forcing bakeries to shutter. And in Kenya, cooking oil is scarce.

As the United States and Europe contemplate their next rounds of sanctions to starve Russia of the revenue that is funding its war, there is growing concern that the fallout is fueling an alarming hunger problem around the world that will not easily be reversed. Policymakers have been scrambling to cobble together plans to open up supply chains and provide food financing to developing countries, but the combination of rising energy costs and constrained exports from Russia and Ukraine is threatening some of the most vulnerable populations around the world.

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“Russia holding food supply hostage is reprehensible,” said Alex Zerden, a former Treasury Department official in the Obama and Trump administrations. “The fact that they are seeking to negotiate sanctions relief to allow for some grain exports demonstrates that Russia can unilaterally expand global food supply to help those most at risk.”

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