Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow is “making every effort to provide critical products” to countries impacted by recent volatility in prices, while speaking at a summit in Kazakhstan on Thursday.
“Other regional associations have to deal with many acute problems, including the increased volatility in world prices for energy resources, food, fertilizers, raw materials and other important goods,” Putin said while delivering remarks at the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) summit in the Kazakh capital Astana.
“This leads to a deterioration in the quality of life in developed and developing countries. Moreover, there is a real threat of famine and widespread social upheaval, especially in the poorest countries.”
“Russia, for its part, is making every effort to provide critical products to countries in need. We call for the elimination of all artificial, illegitimate barriers to the restoration of the normal functioning of global supply chains in order to address urgent food security challenges,” Putin said.
The Russian leader did not reference the war in Ukraine in his remarks. However, he again criticized NATO for the “failure of their policies,” referencing their role in Afghanistan.
“After more than 20 years of the military presence of the United States and NATO [in Afghanistan], the failure of their policies, was unable to independently resolve the problems associated with terrorist threats,” Putin said.
Putin said that, together with other Asian countries, Russia is looking to form a “system of equal and indivisible security based on the universally recognized principles of international law of the UN Charter.”
Some context: Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February sent the prices of energy and other commodities soaring.
In the case of wheat, prices later fell back sharply after spiking to an all-time high in March, as investors cheered a deal brokered by the United Nations and Turkey to restart exports of grain from key Ukrainian ports.
However, natural gas prices increased further as Russia toyed with supply to Europe via key pipelines and heat waves pushed up electricity usage, with the economic impact of the war in Ukraine still being felt around the world.
