Lithuanian Finance Minister Gintare Skaiste has called for the suspension of Russia’s membership in the World Bank, saying the country has violated its fundamental principles.
She has also said the world should not give in to Russia’s “blackmail” over the looming global food crisis.
Russia is trying to change the narrative and make the international community question the usefulness of the existing sanctions, the minister said.
“In the face of the unprecedented economic consequences of Russia’s war in Ukraine, we cannot allow the aggressor to perpetuate the narrative that Western sanctions are leading to a food crisis. This is yet another attempt by Russia to blackmail the world and turn food supply into a convenient tool at the expense of other countries,” the finance minister said at a meeting in Copenhagen of the Nordic-Baltic governors with WB President David Malpass.
The war has highlighted some of the differences between WB members and is complicating strategic decisions on aid to Ukraine, Skaiste said.
She stressed that the real causes of the food crisis, energy prices and inflation, were Russia’s imperialist ambitions and military aggression.
The WB should continue to mobilise resources, as it has done since the outbreak of the war, and use all possible instruments to help Ukraine and prepare for its reconstruction, the Lithuanian finance minister said. (LRT/Business World Magazine)
