Guido Crosetto warns that if African nations do not receive vital food supplies it could destabilize the region
Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto has claimed that only a tiny fraction of Ukraine’s grain exports are going to Africa, contrary to the goals of the Black Sea Initiative, causing prices of staple foods on the continent to soar.
Speaking to the newspaper La Stampa news outlet on Friday, Crosetto was asked if the Ukrainian grain deal, which was recently suspended by Russia, could affect stability in North Africa. The minister replied by pointing out that “everything is connected and it is certainly an element of concern.”
“95 percent of exported Ukrainian grain does not go to Africa, and when those countries don’t have the supplies they need they look elsewhere, and inevitably the global prices rise, making it even more difficult for African nations to import. It is destabilizing regions that are already in difficulty, and this…