This was stated by German Foreign Minister

at an international food conference in Berlin.

The conference discusses the world's food crisis, for which many countries blame Russia, which launched a military invasion of Ukraine four months ago.

According to Burbak, Moscow "consciously uses hunger as a weapon."

Hunger, she claims, threatens more than 300 million people, mostly in the poorest countries.

The German Foreign Minister acknowledged that rising food prices on the world market began before the Russian invasion, including due to climate change and the coronavirus pandemic, but the war "turns this wave into a tsunami."

Burbak reminded that Russia was blocking Ukrainian ports, shelling granaries and, in addition, blaming other countries for the current situation, despite the fact that no sanctions were imposed on food exports from Russia.

U.S. Secretary of State

who also spoke at the conference, agreed with Burbeck's assessment.

According to him, only Russia is responsible for the blockade of Ukrainian ports, where, according to estimates, gathered about 25 million tons of grain.

The issue was also discussed on Friday at a meeting of G7 foreign ministers (G7).

They called on Russia to stop attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure and allow it to export grain from its ports.

The statement also said it supported the EU's efforts to organize alternative export routes.

Burbak also spoke about the need to accelerate the export of food products from Ukraine by land and on rivers.

UN Secretary-General

speaking in Berlin, called the situation with food in the world unprecedented, saying that in 2022 in some countries there may be famine, and in 2023 the situation will be even worse.

He called the war in Ukraine one of the main, but not the only reason for this.

According to Guterres, the UN continues negotiations with the parties to the conflict on the possibility of exporting products from Ukraine and fertilizers from Russia.

Russian authorities deny that the current food crisis is linked to the war in Ukraine.

They also claim that they can guarantee the security of supplies from Ukraine if it clears its ports.

• Russia's deputy security chief,

  Dmitry Medvedev

  , criticized Burbak in a telegram channel saying Russia was using famine as a weapon, writing that it was "strange to hear this from officials whose country had held Leningrad under siege for 900 days, starving it to death." 700 thousand people. "

• The blockade of Leningrad in 1941-44 was organized by the troops of Nazi Germany;

  modern Germany was founded in 1949.