European Union Foreign Policy Commissioner Joseph Borrell said Russia's blockade of millions of tons of Ukrainian grain is a "real war crime".

"It is incomprehensible, and one cannot imagine that millions of tons of wheat remain trapped in Ukraine while people in other parts of the world suffer from hunger," Borrell added.

He called on Russia to lift the blockade of Ukrainian ports so that grain exports could resume.

European Union foreign ministers will meet to discuss this crisis.

Western countries demanded that Russia end the blockade of Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea and allow grain to reach the world.

The blockade has raised warnings that tens of millions of people are at risk of starvation and has led to skyrocketing food prices.

"This is a real war crime," Borrell said on the eve of the meeting in Luxembourg, "and I can't imagine it going on much longer."

He added that there is a need to hold Russia accountable if it continues its blockade of Ukrainian grain exports, which the world desperately needs.

The EU will discuss Russia's claim that price hikes and food shortages in the Middle East and Africa are caused by EU sanctions imposed on Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

"I want to stress that it is not the European sanctions that created the crisis. Our sanctions do not target food and fertilizer. The source of the problem is Russia's blockade of Ukrainian grain," Borrell added.