Biden laments food insecurity due to Russia's war at UNGA, pledges $2.9 bn in aid

President Joe Biden highlighted consequences of the Russia's invasion of Ukraine for the world's food supply, pledging $2.9 billion in global food security aid to address shortages caused by the war and the effects of climate change. He praised a U.N.-brokered effort to create a corridor for Ukrainian grain to be exported by sea and called for the agreement to be continued despite the ongoing conflict.

The White House said the global food security funding includes $2 billion in direct humanitarian assistance through the United States Agency for International Development. The balance of the money will go to global development projects meant to boost the efficiency and resilience of the global food supply. Biden highlighted at length the consequences of the invasion on the world’s food supply, as he pledged $2.9 billion in global food security aid to address shortages caused by the war and the effects of climate change. He praised a U.N.-brokered effort to create a corridor for Ukrainian grain to be exported by sea, and called on the agreement to be continued despite the ongoing conflict.

Biden, during his time at the U.N. General Assembly, also met with Secretary General António Guterres, before his first meeting with new British Prime Minister Liz Truss and a separate huddle with French President Emmanuel Macron. Biden declared at the United Nations that Russia has “shamelessly violated the core tenets” of the international body with its war in Ukraine as he summoned nations around the globe to stand firm in backing the Ukrainian resistance.

He criticized Russia for scheduling “sham referenda” this week in territory it has forcibly seized in Ukraine. “A permanent member of the U..N Security Council invaded its neighbour, attempted to erase a sovereign state from the map. Russia has shamelessly violated the core tenets of the U.N. charter,” he told his U.N. audience. Biden called on all nations, whether democracies or autocracies, to speak out against Russia’s “brutal, needless war” and to bolster’s Ukraine effort to defend itself.