Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has only served to worsen the global food crisis. Much of the world is reliant on Ukrainian grain and the war has severely impacted Ukraine’s ability to export goods.

The representative from the U.S. feels strongly that food security cannot be achieved until the war in Russia and Ukraine is resolved. The representative even went as far as to claim Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is “the root of all evil” and “the direct cause” of the global food crisis. Russia, on the other hand, holds an opposing stance.

“Food security is not possible until western encroachment ends,” the representative of Russia stated.

When asked if the U.S. will continue to provide military aid to Ukraine knowing this information, the representative of the U.S. answered yes. The U.S. feels passionately that they and NATO have an obligation to protect the freedom of Ukrainian people.

When questioned about Russia’s involvement in the world hunger crisis, the Russian representative said, “the root of this crisis is NATO encroachment and western imperialism.”

Russia feels that until western forces stop intruding on Russia’s sovereignty, the international food security issue will be incredibly difficult to solve. Russia, in fact, finds the U.S.’s involvement in the Ukrainian-Russian conflict, “deeply concerning” and claims they are only exacerbating the already dire conditions. Who is truly to blame for the ongoing food crisis is unclear, what is incredibly clear though is that millions of lives are continuing to be lost due to starvation.

Death isn’t the only side effect of food scarcity. According to the International Federation of Red Cross, also known as the IFRC, the hunger crisis in Kenya has caused, “higher rates of child marriage, increased school drop outs and escalating conflicts as people try to cope and access precious resources”. Food scarcity has massive ripple effects across the country and will continue to wreak havoc in Kenya as a result. The food crisis only appears to be getting worse as the number of Kenyans in need of urgent food assistance increased five-fold between August of 2020 and June of 2022 the World Food Programme reported.

Ultimately, the hunger crisis in Kenya, and other African countries, is a dire issue which can no longer go ignored. This situation must become a priority for the UNSC before millions of lives are lost to starvation.