UN chief: Ukraine war hitting poor nations reliant on wheat

By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations chief is warning that Russia’s war on Ukraine is holding “a sword of Damocles” over the global economy. He says it is especially hitting poor developing countries, which face skyrocketing food, fuel and fertilizer prices and are now seeing their breadbasket “being bombed.” Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told reporters Monday that “Russia and Ukraine represent more than half of the world’s supply of sunflower oil and about 30 percent of the world’s wheat.” He added that “grain prices have already exceeded those at the start of the Arab Spring and the food riots of 2007-2008.”