Paweł Jabłoński’s words came at a news conference in Warsaw on Thursday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Earlier, Jabłoński met diplomats from more than 20 African and Middle Eastern countries as well as Ukraine, Lithuania and Romania.
He told reporters: “We are explaining to all our partners in Africa, the Middle East, and in other countries, that the crisis in food supply isn’t caused by sanctions.”
‘The one and only cause' is Russia
“The one and only cause is the policy of the Russian Federation, its attack on Ukraine, its blockade of Black Sea ports, its destruction of Ukraine’s infrastructure and food stores,” he said.
Russia has claimed that the food supply crisis is a consequence of Western sanctions on the Kremlin, news outlets reported.
Jabłoński said: “We invited the ambassadors to discuss the causes of the situation. The Polish diplomatic corps, our embassies are heavily involved in countering Russian disinformation.”
He added that Poland was part of “a big alliance of countries” determined to “bring the facts to the entire world.”
Meanwhile, Ukrainian diplomat Oleh Kuts, who took part in Thursday’s meeting with Jabłoński, said that with the help of Poland, Lithuania and Romania, Ukraine would be able to sidestep the Russian blockade and export its grain.
Jabłoński said that Poland first needed to boost the capacity of its ports and border crossings, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency reported.
Global food security
Russia’s invasion has meant that Ukraine, one of the world’s top grain exporters, has not been able to export its harvest to the world.
Before the war, many African countries based their food policies on deliveries from Ukraine.
Earlier this month, the United Nations warned that the number of people suffering from acute hunger could rise by 47 million worldwide if the war in Ukraine continued.
(pm/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, wnp.pl