The jump in prices for agricultural products occurred back in 2020 and “is by no means the result of a special military operation,” the Foreign Ministry recalled.
“FAO experts have repeatedly noted that prices reached an all-time high until February 2022.
So, from 2019 to February 2022, the food price index increased by almost 50%.
This happened not through the fault of Russia, but because of the pandemic monetary emission, high prices for energy, fertilizers and other agricultural resources,” the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry recalled that Russia intends to continue to conscientiously fulfill its obligations under international contracts in terms of export supplies of agricultural products, fertilizers, energy carriers and other critical products.
Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a conversation with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi, noted that Russia is ready to help overcome the food crisis through the export of grain and fertilizers, but for this it is necessary to remove politically motivated restrictions imposed by Western countries.
Economist John Ross, in a column for Asia Times, noted that the United States and its G7 allies deliberately do not recognize the negative effect of sanctions imposed against Russia on the food situation in the world.