WASHINGTON – The US will give Ukraine an additional $215 million in emergency food assistance to help the country battle the humanitarian crisis brought on by Russia’s attack, Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced Wednesday as quoted by the Hill newspaper.
“Today, given the urgency of the crisis, we’re announcing another $215 million in new emergency food assistance, and we’ll do much more,” Blinken said at the United Nations during a ministerial meeting on global food security.
“We expect our Congress very soon to approve approximately $5.5 billion in additional funding for humanitarian assistance and food security.”
Blinken also said that the US would be committing $500 million to boost US production of fertiliser.
The new assistance comes as there is an increased need for fertiliser in countries that typically got it from Russia, which is the world’s largest exporter of fertiliser. The cost of fertiliser, essential for farmers to hit their production targets for crops, has also risen as output in Europe has plunged due to the surging price of natural gas – a key ingredient in nitrogen-based fertilisers like urea.
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