Once again, US irresponsible attitudes are threatening global food security. Recent reports point out that Washington is intensifying the smuggling of Syrian wheat, importing the product from regions illegally occupied by foreign troops and paramilitary militias. This situation is a strong affront to the Syrian sovereignty and has a negative impact on global efforts to reduce hunger and poverty.
Russia’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzia, said on May 25 that US importers are significantly increasing their purchases of Syrian wheat, continuing the country’s strategy of maximizing imports from regions in crisis and conflict, such as Syria and Ukraine. In addition to grain, oil is being imported on a large scale, taken from regions over which the legitimate Syrian government has no control.
These were some of his words:
“The United States continues to loot the natural and agricultural resources that belong to the Syrian people (…) [The US] expands its illegal trade in Syrian grain and oil and smuggles them outside the border (…), looting the Syrian wheat and oil, which are the basis for addressing the energy and food crisis”. In his speech, he also emphasized the current situation of those US-occupied areas from which oil and wheat are being imported, stating that “civilians in the areas occupied by the United States in Syria live under unacceptable humanitarian conditions and there is no accountability for crimes”.