In his video address on Thusday, Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky blasted Putin’s claims Ukraine’s grain exports are hoarded by Europe instead of going to Africa and Asia where they are allegedly in short supply.

It was a ‘lying statement’ that hardly surprised anyone as ‘true words’ haven’ come out from Russian officials for a long while, said Zelensky.

The recent grain deal unblocking Ukraine’s ports in the Black Sea made it possible for  Kyiv to send 54 ships to Asia, while 32 and 16 more headed to Europe and Africa respectively. In September alone,  such exports can exceed 3 million tons.

Zelensky stressed Kyiv makes no ‘racial discimination’ when it comes to the world food security – it is not about who ‘deserves’ to live in hunger or not.

‘We are supporting all the people, all the countries,’ added the Ukrainian president, arguing that Kyiv will ‘remain to be a guarantor of the world food security’.