US announces $215 million in emergency food assistance for Ukraine

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the country would provide an additional $215 million in new emergency food assistance to the crisis in Ukraine and urged other countries to quickly help the growing global food crisis due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. .

“Today, given the urgency of the crisis, we are announcing another $215 million in new emergency food assistance and we will do much more,” Blinken said at the United Nations on Wednesday during a ministerial meeting on global food security.

“We expect our Congress very soon to approve approximately $5.5 billion in additional funding for humanitarian assistance and food security.”

Blinken also said the US would be committing $500 million to increase US fertilizer production. This is because there is a growing need for fertilizers in countries that traditionally obtained it from Russia, which is the world’s largest exporter.

And the cost of fertilizer, essential for farmers to meet their production targets for crops, has also risen, as production in Europe has also fallen thanks to the rising price of natural gas – a key ingredient in nitrogen-based fertilizers like urea.

Blinken urged other countries with fertilizers and grain, which also face global shortages because of the Ukraine war, to quickly help with this growing crisis.

“The cost of doing business for vital organizations like the world food program, the food and agriculture organization, Unicef ​​and others, the cost of doing business is increasing. We have to help them continue to do their business,” said Blinken.

“In particular, countries with significant grain and fertilizer reserves, as well as those with financial resources, need to step up and do so quickly. The United States has announced more than $2.3 billion in new funding for emergency food assistance to meet global humanitarian needs since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”