UN World Food Program chief David Beasley called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to open Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea to avert a global catastrophe, CNN reports.

Millions of people around the world will die because these ports are blocked. If you have sympathy for the world, regardless of your relationship with Ukraine, you need to open these ports, he said.

Beasley said Ukraine has vital supplies of agricultural products, including wheat, that other states need. At the same time, he stressed that the ports should be opened within 60 days, otherwise the Ukrainian economy, focused on agriculture, will collapse.