Andrea Shalal, David Lawder

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secret Janet Yellen will host a high-level group on Tuesday to address the ongoing global food security crisis that has been exacerbated in part by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

It said Monday that the meeting would include heads from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank as well as ministers of G7 and G20 nations and technical experts at international financial institutions.

The meeting will address “the urgent response to the ongoing global food security crisis exacerbated by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” and call on international financial institutions to “accelerate and deepen their response,” Treasury said.

Russia claims it’s engaged in “special military operations” in Ukraine

“Secretary Yellen is deeply concerned about impacts that Russia’s reckless war are having on the global economy, including the risk of rising food insecurity in emerging markets and developing countries around the world, which are still struggling to recover from the pandemic,” a senior Treasury official said.

According to the official, the crisis had hit emerging markets and countries in the developing world that are still trying to recover from the COVID-19 epidemic particularly hard.

Un second Treasury official claimed that Treasury didn’t have any specific assistance target in mind. He also noted that officials continue to analyze the severity of the situation.

Yellen made the announcement for the meeting first week by noting that nearly 275million people in all of world are facing severe food insecurity.

World Bank and IMF, UN World Food Program, World Trade Organization, and UN World Food Program all called for immediate, coordinated actions on food security. They also appealed to governments to refrain from banning fertilizer or food exports.

According to them, the problem was exacerbated due to a steep rise in the price of, an important ingredient of nitrogenous fertiler. This could pose a threat for food production in many other countries.

A senior official from Treasury said that the Office of Foreign Assets Control will this week reiterate its commitment for the free flow of goods and humanitarian assistance to Russia despite the sweeping sanctions.