UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that the world faces a "catastrophe" because of the global food shortage, with Russia's invasion of Ukraine only adding to an already difficult situation.
"There is a real risk that multiple famines will be declared in 2022," Guterres said in a video message to officials from dozens of rich and developing countries meeting in Berlin on June 24.
"And 2023 could be even worse," added Guterres, who called mass hunger and starvation unacceptable in the 21st century.
Guterres told the gathering that "the war in Ukraine has compounded problems that have been brewing for years: climate disruption; the COVID-19 pandemic; the deeply unequal recovery."
He said it was crucial that Ukraine and Russia -- which together produce about 29 percent of global wheat exports -- find a way to resume normal trade.
Shipments from Ukrainian ports have been halted following Russia's unprovoked invasion of that country.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who hosted the Berlin gathering, called "completely untenable" Russia's assertions that Western sanctions imposed over the Kremlin's invasion of Ukraine were to blame for food shortages.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that "the sanctions that we've imposed on Russia collectively and with many other countries exempt food, exempt food products, exempt fertilizers, exempt insurers, exempt shippers."
Guterres said UN negotiators were in talks with Russia to seek a deal to restore the flow of products to world markets.
He also said higher fertilizer and energy prices were hitting farmers in Asia, the Americas, and elsewhere, making it difficult for them to bring food products to market.