Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is guaranteed to cause a two-year food crisis, Western officials warn Business

Source says efforts to transport Ukrainian grain overland by rail and road are seen by authorities as ‘far short’ of what is needed, warning it will take months to clear mines from ports from the Black Sea if recovered.

It came as Boris Johnson pledged to help Ukraine get supplies by helping with clearance efforts and providing insurance for ships exporting millions of tonnes of grain.

Speaking on a visit to Rwanda for a Commonwealth summit, Mr Johnson said yesterday: ‘What the UK may have to offer, above all else, is insurance expertise shipping, and a lot of expertise in moving goods from, shall we say, disputed sea areas.

Mr Johnson confirmed that the UK was helping Ukraine “on a technical level to help clear Odessa of mines”.

The prime minister said the Russian president was trying to hold the world “to ransom” by blocking food supplies from leaving Ukraine through its Black Sea ports.

He added: “This supply could help people all over the world, it could help some of the poorest countries in the world.”

Ukraine is one of the largest grain producers in the world, producing huge amounts of wheat, corn, rapeseed and sunflower seeds.

Russia and Ukraine export a quarter of the world’s wheat, but the conflict has severely disrupted production, causing global food prices to soar to record highs. Officials say Ukraine’s harvest in 2022 will be around 60% of last year’s levels.

Moscow has also been accused of deliberately sabotaging Ukrainian infrastructure and destroying equipment used in food production. Amid the struggle to export grain from ports, there are fears Ukrainian storage facilities are filling up quickly, limiting future production.

Foreign Secretary Liz Truss yesterday warned that there would be ‘devastating consequences’ unless the issue of grain exports stuck in Ukraine was resolved next month.

She said: “We are very clear that this grain crisis is urgent, that it must be resolved within the next month or else we could see devastating consequences.”

It comes as recently declassified US intelligence shows the Russian Navy has been ordered to lay mines in the ports of Odessa and Ochakiv, and has previously mined the Dnieper, as part of its blockade of exports of Ukrainian cereals.

Russia has denied laying mines around the ports and instead referred the allegations to Kyiv, saying the Ukrainians had mined their own ports, according to a Guardian report.