Ukraine-Russia war: reciprocal accusations over food crisis, accusations of famine against Russian

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has denied that the war in Ukraine has created a global food crisis. He made the remarks after a meeting with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevl Cavusoglu in Ankara.

Turkey is trying to mediate on how food grain ships can resume operations from Ukrainian ports.

After the war, food exports from Ukraine to the world stopped and food grain prices began to rise.

After the meeting in Ankara, Mr Lavrov said Russia was ready to de-mine Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea, if the Ukrainians agreed to do the same.

However, the head of the European Council, Charles Michel, described Russia's statement as "absolutely false."

He says Russia is now using food supplies as weapons, blocking Ukrainian ports, turning agricultural land into battlefields and creating famines around the world.

The head of the World Food Program, David Beasley, has warned that if Ukraine's ports are not reopened, it could amount to a declaration of war on world food security

Italy, meanwhile, has warned that if Russia does not reopen its Black Sea ports soon, millions of people around the world will starve to death.

Italian Foreign Minister Luigi de Maio said cutting off food supplies meant holding millions of women, men and children hostage and pushing them to their deaths. He says the next few weeks will be very important.

According to Russian media reports, food shipments from the Russian-occupied port of Berdynsk in Ukraine may begin this week

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba said that Ukraine was trying to resolve the issue of food grains through the United Nations.

He says the opening of the ports should ensure that Russia's security is not compromised in any way, so that Russia does not launch an attack along the route

Ukraine has said it has no objection to the Turkish navy being given the responsibility of securing a route for safe food shipments.

But in the end the talks ended without any compromise.

Intense fighting in Sevarodonetsk

Intense fighting continues in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sevarodonetsk. There are reports that Ukrainian forces are fighting Himsim against Russian troops

However, the governor of the Luhansk region said that the Ukrainians would not surrender to Sevarodonetsk, even if they had to retreat.

Sergei Haidai says Russia is now suspending its operations everywhere and focusing only on the fight in Sevarodonetsk. He fears that the Russians will increase their shelling and rocket attacks, after which they may launch a massive operation.

Governor Serhiy Haidai said Ukraine would not surrender to Sevarodonets, even if they had to retreat and take a stronger position elsewhere. Russia has been trying for weeks to dismantle Ukraine's defenses there

Russian state media claim that more than a thousand Ukrainian fighters who surrendered on the premises of Mariupol's Azovstal steel plant have been taken to Russia.

For almost two months, Ukrainian troops and fighters have been trying to build up resistance against the Russians in Mariupol.

In Ukraine, these fighters are considered national heroes. But in Russia they are seen differently. Some Russian politicians have called for them to be treated as war criminals, rather than as prisoners of war

A Kremlin official in the southern Ukrainian port city of Kherson, whose first collapse occurred, said they were planning to annex it to Russia as soon as possible.

Sergei Kiriyenko, Russia's deputy chief of staff, said the Kherson region would be fully annexed by Russia in the same way that Crimea was annexed by Russia.

He added that the process of issuing Russian passports there will also start soon. Anyone who wants a passport will be given one

Ever since Kherson fell to the Russians, there have been rumors that a referendum will be held on whether to make it part of Russia. However, many have expressed fears of rigging the referendum.