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President Biden said last Thursday that a global food shortage is “going to be real” as the “price” to pay for the sanctions imposed by his administration and the European Union against Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.
“With regard to food shortage, yes we did talk [about it] and it’s going to be real,” Biden said during a press conference at a NATO summit in Brussels, Belgium, following a meeting with other world leaders.
Biden clarified that the “price of the sanctions” will not only be felt in Russia, but “upon an awful lot of countries as well,” including the United States and some European countries, which will also feel the impact in food shortages.
Effects of war: higher inflation and supply shortages
“Because both Russia and Ukraine have been the breadbasket of Europe in terms of wheat, for example,” the president continued. “We had a long discussion in the G7 with both the United States, which has a significant — the third-largest wheat producer in the world — and Canada, which is also a large, large producer, and we both talked about how we could address food shortages amplify and spread faster.”
The U.S. leader assured that European countries had been “urged” to put an end to “trade restrictions” that make it difficult to send food abroad, so that it would be possible to determine “what it would take” to “alleviate” the shortage.
He also indicated that a “major investment” by the United States is being assessed to ensure that humanitarian assistance needs are met, including feeding the victims.
The United States has already begun to feel the effects of war in Europe, with inflation hovering around 8%, skyrocketing oil and gasoline prices, and the U.S. is already feeling the effects of a war in Europe.
