Belarus speaks about sanctions, conflict in Ukraine, hunger threat at UN Security Council meeting

Belarus will continue to contribute to international food security and will do everything necessary for a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, Counselor of the Permanent Mission of Belarus to the United Nations Igor Pilipenko said at the Conflict and Hunger — United Nations Security Council Arria-Formula meeting, BelTA has learned. The Belarusian diplomat noted that sometimes hunger can be caused by objective factors: climate change, natural disasters and epidemics. However, sometimes hunger is the result of deliberate policy and political decisions.

“The best example of the latter is unilateral coercive measures introduced in connection with conflicts. It is important to recognize that such unilateral coercive measures, regardless of their form or format, have serious consequences for conflicts and efforts to combat hunger around the world.

Unilateral coercive measures create disadvantages that can undermine the peace process by prolonging conflicts and needlessly exacerbating human suffering. They also reduce or prevent trade flows, dramatically affecting the availability of food and the means to produce it,” Igor Pilipenko stressed.

According to him, the current situation around the conflict in Ukraine is a vivid example of such effects of unilateral coercive measures. “Belarus, for its part, has always made a significant contribution to global food security by exporting agricultural and food products, agricultural machinery and technology, potash and complex fertilizers to more than 100 countries.