US Sec State Blinken To Pressure Russia On Food Security At UNSC

10:00 ET 15:00 BST: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is shortly due to deliver remarks at a United Nations Security Council open debate on “Famine and Conflict-Induced Global Food Insecurity.” The US holds the rotating presidency of the UNSC for the month of August and is expected to use the presidency to apply pressure on Russia to return to the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

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• Blinken told ABC this morning: "We’ve got 91 countries to date signed up to a commitment not to use food as a weapon of war. And at the same time, we’re putting a spotlight on what Russia is doing in Ukraine."
• Blinken said that he "hopes" there is a chance US officials can work with Russian counterparts to put the deal back together and highlighted the recent Russia-Africa Summit in St Petersburg as evidence that Russia's withdrawal from the deal may lead to a loss of support for Russia amongst neutral emerging market nations.
• Blinken: "Half the African leaders didn’t show up, which tells you something. But the ones that did made it very clear to Vladimir Putin that they wanted this deal back on."