On Thursday, Von der Leyen said following the EU summit that she proposed to increase tariffs on Russian and Belarusian grain and seed oil products to avoid destabilizing the EU market and deprive Russia of revenues from trade with the European Union.
"Is this her way of worrying about starving countries? How will such measures contribute to world food security? They will not. They will only exacerbate the world food situation already brought to absurdity by the West," Zakharova said on Telegram.
Following the EU summit, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said the interests of world consumers should be taken into account when raising EU tariffs on Russian grain. He added that discussion of the situation on the grain market and supplies from Russia and Ukraine will continue on Friday.