Russia is producing grain in 2022 at levels that may significantly exceed last year's rates and approaching its maximum level of over 130 million tonnes, Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev said Friday.

The country had harvested 121.4 million tonnes of grain last year, including 75.94 million tonnes of wheat. However, this was pretty far from their record of 133.5 million tonnes achieved in 2017.

"The grain harvest in Russia in 2022 can significantly exceed last year's results and reach the levels the president talked about, actually coming close to the maximum," Patrushev said. 

Moscow, he added, will retain its grain export quota mechanism next season, and its exports in 2022 could reach 50 million.

Patrushev also explained that the current global situation was threatening Russia with emerging challenges, stressing that all states had to make operational decisions with that in mind.

"We are recording an increase in demand for basic food products and, first of all, for cereals, and this applies to many countries. Also, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization has been stressing the relevance of world hunger problems," he explained. 

Russia is ready to provide foreign partners with high-quality products to bolster food security around the world, the minister added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Thursday that the country's grain harvest in 2022 could exceed 130 million tonnes, and wheat comprises 87 million tonnes of those, which would see Moscow setting a new all-time record.

World leaders and international organizations have been warning of an imminent and large-scale food crisis that would affect the whole globe since the start of the Ukraine war, citing disruptions in supply chains and stunted crop production in one of the world's largest grain producers.

Ukraine and Russia account for an estimated 30% of global exports of wheat, 20% of maize, and 76% of sunflower.

President Putin told Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi earlier today that Moscow was ready to make a "major contribution" in the course of preventing an impending food crisis if the West lifts its sanctions.

On its part, the United States dismissed Putin's remarks. "Now they're using economic tools, as weapons. They're weaponizing food. They're weaponizing economic assistance. I guess we shouldn't be surprised by that, since they've weaponized everything else, including lies and information," Pentagon Spokesperson John Kirby claimed. 

Just yesterday, board chairman of the Russian Union of Grain Exporters, Eduard Zernin, said that due to Russian grain exporters' inability to send supplies to nations in need due to Western sanctions, a second grain market may be established.

He explained that this new type of trade relations will be established with the MENA region added Zernin noting that Moscow's previous partners have been obstructing supplies of Russian grain to struggling countries. They blocked transactions between banks, froze finances, and barred Russian ships from reaching their ports, while they made audacious statements about the global food crisis.