Russia won't export food to the detriment of its own market

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IANS | 20 May, 2022
Russia will not export food to the detriment of its own market, Deputy Chairman of Russias Security Council and former President Dmitry Medvedev said.

In a lengthy Telegram post, Medvedev commented on the recent statements by Western leaders about food security.

As Russia and Ukraine are major wheat suppliers, accounting for some 30 per cent of global exports, the prices have significantly grown since the launch of the Russian military offensive in Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions imposed on Moscow by the US, the EU, the UK and some other Western nations, RT reported.

On Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that fertilisers and food products from Russia should be available to the world markets without obstacles.

Medvedev agreed that without wheat and other food supplies from Russia, the importing countries would "have a very difficult time", especially, he noted, because without Russian fertilisers, "only juicy weeds [would] grow" on their fields, RT reported.

In Medvedev's opinion, the West is now "backing up" because "all these hellish sanctions are worthless when it comes to vital things", such as food or energy.

Sanctions interfere with everyone's desire to live a normal, prosperous life, the former Russian President argued.

The expansion of NATO and the "mess with the calculations of debts, payments and other things" have aggravated the situation, he said.

According to Medvedev, Russia is ready to fulfil all of its obligations, but it has the right to expect some assistance from its trading partners. Otherwise, he emphasised, there would be no logic to it.

"On the one hand, insane sanctions are being imposed on us, and on the other hand, [the West] is demanding food supplies," he said.

"It will not happen, we're not idiots," he said, adding that there would be no export deliveries to the detriment of the Russian market, RT reported.