<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>The United States on Tuesday accused Russia of deciding to let the developing world "starve" after pulling out of a UN-brokered deal with Ukraine to export grain.</b></span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The body overseeing the July deal, also negotiated by Turkey, said that grain exports will halt as of Wednesday after Russia over the weekend announced a pullout.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"Any decision by the Kremlin to disrupt this initiative is essentially a statement that Moscow doesn't care," State Department spokesman Ned Price said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Moscow doesn't care if the world goes hungry. Moscow doesn't care if people starve. Moscow doesn't care if the world's food insecurity crisis is compounded," he told reporters.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Price said that the United States backed efforts by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to revive the pact and will do whatever "he deems useful for us" to do.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Russian President Vladimir Putin has demanded security guarantees from Ukraine, which he invaded in February, after he accused Kyiv of using the grain corridor to attack Russian ships in Crimea.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Price a day earlier accused Russia of "extortion" with the demand. Asked Tuesday if the United States would support changes in the arrangement, Price said, "The initiative was working."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He pointed to UN figures that nearly 10 million metric tonnes have been shipped, helping ease global food prices that had soared after the invasion of Ukraine, a global breadbasket.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Price said that "every single ounce" of food benefited the world's hungry. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>