Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko: Hunger is coming

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko raised the topic of the global food crisis at a meeting with the leadership of the Council of Ministers and governors.

According to Lukashenko, "they intimidate the whole world with imminent hunger every day." The President of Belarus believes that "the situation is being escalated, like with a pandemic." It is worthy of note that Alexander Lukashenko was very skeptical about restrictive measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus infection after the start of the pandemic.

As for the developing food crisis situation, there is no smoke without fire, Lukashenko believes.

The President of Belarus believes that "hunger will come." It's not only because Ukrainian grain was not exported, or Russia is under sanctions, he said. Bread is not the only thing that will disappear, he added.

Lukashenko pointed out that the UN failed to prevent the "inevitable crisis".

"Fifty countries of the world are critically dependent on this food, and things are only going to get worse!" he said.

Lukashenko believes that the problem lies in the crazy flywheel of sanctions. Sanctions will cause food prices to rise, because growing grain prices will lead to an instant price growth on other types of food and livestock products, he believes.

Prices have already broken all-time records. For example, wheat has risen in price by more than 60 percent over the past six months, the president of Belarus said.

"As it turns out, you can't spread dollars on bread," Lukashenko said. The 2008 surge in wheat prices ended with the onset of the Arab Spring, he reminded. Grain has become a matter of big politics and, in fact, a weapon.

"That's why I'm telling you: if economy works, if people have something to eat, if they have clothes to wear, it will be a guarantee that we will survive. If the government does not fail other sectors of the economy under the guise of sanctions, then we are not afraid of any sanctions at all," Lukashenko stressed.

In June, World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala warned that poor countries could face catastrophic crises due to rising food prices.

Western leaders traditionally blame the problem on Russia. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said, for instance, that it is Russia and its president that are to blame for all the threats that everyone will have to deal with soon.