Ukrainian Prez Zelenskyy calls on UN Food and Agriculture Organization to expel Russia

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for the exclusion of Russia from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. In his address at the opening session of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Zelenskyy stressed that Russia can no more have membership in the FAO as it is "working for the starvation of "at least four hundred million and at most more than a billion people." Zelenskyy's call comes as Ukraine continues to accuse Russia of blocking Ukrainian grain exports. 

"There can also be no question of Russia's continued membership in the FAO – the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. What has Russia to do there if it is working for starvation of at least four hundred million and at most more than a billion people?," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his address.

Addressing the opening session of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Zelenskyy praised the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development for having stopped Russia's process of accession to the organization. He called on other international organizations to follow the "example" and terminate Russia from their organizations. Zelenskyy stressed that the international community needs to remove everything that halts cooperation and development and called the Russian offensive "the first key obstacle and threat." In his speech, Zelenskyy stated that the Black Sea which is one of the key routes for exporting food has been blocked by the Russian navy.

Zelenskyy accuses Russia of 'destroying Donbass'

Furthermore, Zelenskyy said that Russia will be "fully responsible" for hundreds of millions of people on different continents who remain on the "brink of at least food shortages" and "at most famine." The Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russia of "destroying Donbass" with missile, air, and artillery strikes. He stressed that tens of thousands of people have been killed and hundreds of places in Ukraine have been destroyed. According to Zelenskyy, around 12 million people have been displaced due to the Russian offensive in Ukraine and noted that it has been the "biggest migrant crisis in Europe since World War II." He called on the international community for putting further pressure on Russia at to stop its offensive. It is pertinent to note here that the Russian offensive in Ukraine which started on February 24 has reached its day 106. Since February 24, the hostilities between the two warring nations have led to death and destruction in Ukraine. 

Image: Facebook/@ВолодимирЗеленський