The UN Chief Antonio Guterres, stated on Wednesday that the global implications of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are growing, with 1.6 billion people expected to be affected.

“The war’s impact on food security, energy, and finance is systemic, severe, and speeding up,” the Secretary-General said as he presented the UN’s second assessment on the war’s consequences.

“for people around the world,” he said, “he war is threatening to unleash an unprecedented wave of hunger and destitution, leaving social and economic chaos in its wake.”

The international body’s president said he had urged allies to help him identify “a package deal that allows for the safe and secure export of Ukrainian-produced food through the Black Sea, and unimpeded access to global markets for Russian food and fertilizers.”

However, while this year’s food shortage is “about a lack of access,” next year’s “may be about a shortage of food,” according to Guterres.

He implored in a speech that “there is only one way to stop this growing storm: Russia’s invasion of Ukraine must end.”