President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has said that a state that provokes famine should receive the most severe reaction from the world and called for Russia to be held accountable for trying to “make protection from famine not a right, but a privilege.”
“And any state that provokes famine, that tries to make access to food a privilege, that tries to make the protection of nations from famine dependent on the smile of fortune or the mercy of some dictator – such a state must get the toughest reaction from the world,” Zelensky said during a meeting on food security, which is taking place on the sidelines of the 77th UN General Assembly.
Zelensky said that “Russia wants to make protection from hunger not a right, but a privilege, and wants to make food – not an inalienable right, but something to beg for.”
“We categorically do not accept that. We consistently fight against that. And we call for your solidarity. Stand in solidarity with us in holding Russia to account. Stand in solidarity with us in guaranteeing the right of any person and any country to protection from hunger, the right to food,” he stressed.
“This is Ukraine’s position. This is the position of a nation that has lost millions of people to Holodomors. Therefore, we particularly feel what the words ‘food security’ really mean. What the right to protection against famine is. What the right to food is,” the president said.