US President Joe Biden said leaders discussed the possibilities of food shortages triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, writes CNN.

Biden said food shortages will be “real”, and he called Ukraine and Russia the “breadbasket” for Europe.

Supplies from the two countries together account for almost 30% of global wheat trade.

“The price of the sanctions is not just imposed upon Russia. It’s imposed upon an awful lot of countries as well, including European countries and our country as well”, - Biden said in remarks after an emergency NATO meeting in Brussels.

“We had a long discussion in the G7 with ... both the United States, which has a significant - the third largest producer of wheat in the world - as well as Canada, which is also a major, major producer. And we both talked about how we could increase and disseminate more rapidly food ... In addition to that, we talked about urging all the European countries and everyone else to end trade restrictions on sending, limitations on sending food abroad. So we are in the process of working out with our European friends what it would be, what it would take to help alleviate the concerns relative to food shortages”, - he said.

Biden also mentioned a “significant” US investment model for humanitarian assistance, which would include food.