USAID administrator warns of the war in Ukraine expanding into a global crisis

U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Samantha Power warned on Sunday of the war in Ukraine expanding into a global crisis “in terms of effects.”

Ms. Power called on Congress to approve a “substantial increase in humanitarian assistance,” to stem the tide of rising global food prices as lawmakers take up the White House’s request for $33.4 billion in additional aid to Ukraine

“As if the harms in Ukraine weren’t enough, you have countries like in sub-Saharan Africa and in the Middle East who get maybe 80, 90 percent of their wheat or their grain overall from Russia and Ukraine,” Ms. Power told ABC’s “This Week.” “And you see massive spikes in food prices.”

She said global food prices are up 34% over last year due, in large part, to the war in Ukraine.

“We really do need this financial support from the Congress to be able to meet emergency food needs so we don’t see the cascading deadly effects of Russia’s war extend into Africa and beyond,” she said.

Last week, the White House requested an additional $33.4 billion in Ukraine aid from Congress, including $20 billion in security assistance, $8.5 billion in economic assistance, and $3 billion in humanitarian assistance.

---

SEE ALSO: GOP Rep. Kinzinger suggests U.S. consider use of military if Russia escalates war in Ukraine

---

The Biden administration has provided nearly $3.4 billion in assistance to Ukraine since the Russian invasion in late February.

Together, Russia and Ukraine account for nearly a third of the world’s wheat exports, and western officials fear exports could fall precipitously below pre-invasion levels.

With a global economy already battered by pandemic-related supply chain constraints, the war in Ukraine has led to even sharper increases in food costs stemming from disruptions in wheat and fertilizer export markets.

In March, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) projected that wheat exports from the two countries will fall by 7 million tons or 12% below pre-invasion projections. As a result, wheat prices have surged globally, up 62% from January through late March, according to the Atlantic Council.

“Certainly in terms of effects, [the war is] not confined to the horrors that the Ukrainian people are suffering,” Ms. Power said Sunday.

Ms. Power laid the blame for the impending crisis squarely at the feet of Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite the Kremlin’s claims that the West’s sanctions on Russia were responsible for rising prices.

“It is Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for no reason and its unwillingness now to come to the negotiating table and get out of Ukraine and get back to Russia,” she said. “That is what is causing these cascading effects, so we want to meet those effects but continue to ensure that that pressure is put on the Russian Federation through economic sanctions and through the security assistance so that they finally negotiate a peace.”