USA compares Putin to Stalin

Putin, like Stalin, uses food as a weapon of war, said Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, at a meeting of the National Security Council of the White House. The diplomat compared the Russian president to the Soviet dictator who organized the Holodomor in Ukraine, killing millions of civilians.

“This month is the 90th anniversary of the Holodomor, which means death from hunger,” the ambassador reminded. During the times of the USSR, millions of Ukrainian women, children, and men died due to the harsh and repressive policies of the Stalinist regime due to man-made and deliberate hunger. The Holodomor “was a warning” of what could happen if brutality and tyranny were not curbed, Thomas-Greenfield said.

“But Putin didn’t mind, he was rather inspired. Like Stalin, Putin uses food as a weapon of war. Like Stalin, Putin caused hunger and death in Ukraine,” the diplomat stated.

In the modern war, Russia looted Ukrainian grain, sabotaged agricultural lands, and bombed Ukrainian agricultural infrastructure and port cities. However, this time, Moscow is waging a war not only against the people of Ukraine, the diplomat added.

“It is also waging war against vulnerable populations around the world who depend on food exports from Ukraine,” Thomas-Greenfield emphasized.

Russia exacerbated global food security because, before the full-scale invasion last year, Ukraine was one of the leading producers and exporters of agricultural products. Currently, wheat production in the country has decreased by 35% compared to before the war. At the same time, the Ukrainian people persevered and continue to be a “beacon of hope” for the most vulnerable people in the world despite constant attacks, the diplomat concluded.

Earlier, Ukraine offered UN members to sign the Declaration on the occasion of the anniversary of the Holodomor to demonstrate international solidarity, honor the memory of those killed by hunger and recognize the relevance of the lessons of the past. 45 UN countries have already agreed upon the document, Andriy Dobriansky, Chair of the UWC Committee on Relations with the United Nations, reported.