IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 677 

Condemning the Government of the Russian Federation for exacerbating 

global food insecurity through its illegal, unprovoked full-scale invasion 

of Ukraine. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

SEPTEMBER 12, 2023 

Mr. PETERS (for himself, Mr. KEAN of New Jersey, Mr. KEATING, and Mr. 

FITZPATRICK) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to 

the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

RESOLUTION 

Condemning the Government of the Russian Federation for 

exacerbating global food insecurity through its illegal, 

unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

Whereas Ukraine has historically been a significant supplier 

of agricultural products for global markets, providing 

food for nearly 400 million people around the world, is 

the world’s fifth largest exporter of wheat, and provides 

over 11 percent of cereals to the world; 

Whereas, on February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation 

launched an unprovoked, full-scale invasion of the sovereign country of Ukraine; 


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•HRES 677 IH 

Whereas throughout the invasion, the Russian Federation has 

consistently mined Ukrainian farmland and bombed grain 

silos; 

Whereas, beginning on that date, the Russian Federation implemented an illegal naval blockade of Ukrainian ports in 

the Black Sea, disrupting Ukraine’s food exports, driving 

up global food prices and exacerbating global food insecurity; 

Whereas given many developing countries’ pre-war reliance 

on Ukrainian foodstuffs, the Russian Federation’s illegal 

blockade of Ukrainian ports disproportionately harmed 

millions of people who were already struggling with food 

insecurity before the war; 

Whereas, in May 2022, the European Union established and 

provided significant investment for Solidarity Lanes as 

road, rail, and inland waterway alternatives to facilitate 

the export of Ukrainian agricultural and nonagricultural 

products to global markets despite the Russian Federation’s illegal naval blockade of Ukraine; 

Whereas Ukrainian ports along the Danube River serve as an 

important alternative route for the export of Ukrainian 

goods, and are now a critical Black Sea shipping outlet 

for millions of tons of Ukrainian grain, but cannot accommodate all the grain previously transported from 

Black Sea ports; 

Whereas the Ukrainian Danube River ports have repeatedly 

been struck by Russian attacks following the Russian 

Federation’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, destroying thousands of tons of grain and damaging 

necessary port infrastructure; 


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•HRES 677 IH 

Whereas, on July 27, 2022, Ukraine, the Russian Federation, 

Turkey, and the United Nations launched the Black Sea 

Grain Initiative ‘‘to ensure the safe passage of commercial vessels carrying grain, foodstuffs, and fertilizers, including ammonia, in and out of three Ukrainian ports; 

Odesa, Chornomorsk, and Yuzhny (Pivdennyi)’’; 

Whereas under this initiative, teams of Ukrainian, Russian, 

Turkish, and United Nations officials inspected cargo 

ships inbound to or outbound from Ukrainian ports and 

traveling along a specified humanitarian corridor; 

Whereas until the Russian Federation suspended its participation, the Black Sea Grain Initiative facilitated the export of nearly 33 million metric tons of grain; 

Whereas, during the period in which the Black Sea Grain Initiative was active, the Russian Federation reportedly delayed inspections of eligible vessels, reducing the amount 

of agricultural products that were exported from Ukraine 

to millions of people who relied on them; 

Whereas, on July 17, 2023, the Russian Federation suspended its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative 

and soon thereafter announced that it would consider civilian vessels traveling in the Black Sea to be valid military targets; 

Whereas despite the Kremlin’s claims to the contrary in justifying its decision to suspend the Black Sea Grain Initiative, Russia is making significant profits from its grain 

exports; 

Whereas the Russian Federation defended its suspension of 

participation in the initiative by falsely claiming that 

Western sanctions enacted against it in response to its 

invasion of Ukraine prohibited exports of Russian agriVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:10 Sep 13, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR677.IH HR677

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•HRES 677 IH 

cultural products to the world, despite longstanding humanitarian carve-outs in European Union and United 

States sanctions regimes; 

Whereas, since suspending its participation in the Black Sea 

Grain Initiative, the Russian Federation has launched 

missile and drone strikes against ports previously involved in the Initiative such as Odesa and Mykolaiv, in 

addition to inland ports on the Danube River, damaging 

port and grain processing infrastructure, at least 5 civilian vessels, and destroying more than 180,000 tons of 

grain; and 

Whereas United Nations Security Council Resolution 2417 

(2018), to which the Russian Federation agreed, calls 

‘‘on all parties to armed conflict to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law regarding 

. . . taking constant care to spare civilian objects, including objects necessary for food production and distribution’’: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) condemns the Russian Federation for sus3 pending its participation in the Black Sea Grain Ini4 tiative; 

5 (2) calls on the Russian Federation to imme6 diately resume participation in the Black Sea Grain 

7 Initiative or pledge noninterference for commercial 

8 grain shipping in the Black Sea without any pre9 conditions to avoid a global food crisis, and demands 

10 the Russian Federation ceases the targeting of 

11 Ukrainian grain storage and port facilities; 


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•HRES 677 IH 

1 (3) affirms that the Russian Federation’s 

2 unprovoked full-scale invasion and illegal naval 

3 blockade of Ukraine are to blame for rising global 

4 food insecurity, and affirms that civilian vessels are 

5 not targets of war; 

6 (4) considers the Russian Federation’s 

7 weaponization of hunger to be a deliberate element 

8 of its strategy to coerce Ukraine into agreeing to an 

9 unfavorable negotiated settlement to the war; 

10 (5) believes rising global food insecurity wors11 ened by the Russian Federation’s unprovoked full12 scale invasion and illegal naval blockade of Ukraine 

13 threatens United States national security; 

14 (6) commends the European Union’s Solidarity 

15 Lanes for being excellent examples of the benefits of 

16 burden sharing in tackling shared challenges; 

17 (7) supports any other efforts to work with like18 minded allies and partners to meet the food needs 

19 of countries most impacted by food insecurity arising 

20 from the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine; 

21 and 

22 (8) expresses solidarity with all people affected 

23 by food insecurity resulting from the Russian Fed24 eration’s war against Ukraine. 

Æ 


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