G7: Germany to host meeting on Ukraine invasion’s impact on food security

(L-R) G7 foreign ministers, Italy's Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Yves Le Drian, Canada's Minister of Foreign Affairs Melanie Joly, Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, Britain's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, Japan's Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and European High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell pose in a socially distanced manner for a group photograph ahead of bilateral talks at the G7 Foreign and Development Ministers meeting in Liverpool, northwest England on 11 December 2021AFP

Germany will host a virtual meeting of agricultural ministers from G7 countries on Friday to discuss the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on global food security and how to best stabilise food markets, the government said.

“The provision of foodstuffs in Germany and the European Union is safe but greater shortages can be expected in some countries outside the EU - especially where scarcity already reigns today due to issues like drought,” German agriculture minister Cem Oezdemir said in statement.

“Price hikes for agricultural products cannot be excluded in industrialised nations either.”

Germany holds the rotating presidency of the Group of Seven most advanced economies this year.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation” that it says is not designed to occupy territory but to destroy its southern neighbour’s military capabilities and capture what it regards as dangerous nationalists.