Yemen warns wheat stock to run out amid Ukraine war

SANAA, Yemen (AA) – Yemen warned Saturday that its wheat stock is about to run out amid repercussions of the Russian war on Ukraine.

“The global food crisis and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict have their impact on wheat imports to Yemen,” Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Waed Badhib, said in statements cited by the state news agency Saba.

He said around 46% of Yemen’s wheat imports come from Russia and Ukraine.

"Yemen’s strategic stock of wheat is about to run out by mid-July,” the minister warned, going on to call on the European Union to help Yemen find new markets for wheat purchases.

Yemen has been engulfed by violence and instability since 2014, when Iran-aligned Houthi rebels captured much of the country, including the capital Sanaa.

The conflict has created one of the world's worst man-made humanitarian crises, with 23.4 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and protection and more than 19 million are in danger of starvation, according to latest UN estimates.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar