UN Chief: Ukraine War Could Cause 'Global Hunger Crisis'

U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres on Tuesday called for Russia to end its ''absurd war'' in Ukraine, saying it could result in ''a global hunger crisis,'' Axios reports.

Ukraine is a major supplier of wheat to many Middle Eastern countries, and the United Nations warned on Friday that the war had cut off that supply. Russia is the world's top exporter of wheat and another major supplier to the Middle East and Africa, wrote Callista Gingrich, former U.S. ambassador to the Holy See,  in a recent column published by Newsmax.

Guterres told reporters in New York that 10 million Ukranians have been displaced from their homes. The war is unwinnable, he said, and Ukrainians are ''enduring a living hell — and the reverberations are being felt worldwide with skyrocketing food, energy and fertilizer prices threatening to spiral into a global hunger crisis.''

He again called on Russia to stop the onslaught, saying there is enough on the table for serious negotiations, The New York Times reported.

''Continuing the war in Ukraine is morally unacceptable, politically indefensible and militarily nonsensical,'' Guterres said.

He further stressed the need to stop the war immediately.

''This war is unwinnable,'' Guterres said. ''Sooner or later, it will have to move from the battlefield to the peace table. This is inevitable. The only question is: How many more lives must be lost?''

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