The United Nations chief warned on Friday that the world is facing a "catastrophe" due to the increasing shortage of food worldwide.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the war in Ukraine has exacerbated disruptions caused by climate change, the coronavirus pandemic, and inequality, resulting in an "unprecedented global hunger crisis" already affecting hundreds of millions of people.

He said in a video message to officials from dozens of rich and developing countries meeting in Berlin, "There is a real risk of declaring multiple famines in 2022."

"And 2023 could be worse." Guterres pointed out that crops across Asia, Africa, and the Americas will be damaged as farmers worldwide struggle to cope with rising fertilizer and energy prices.

He said, "Food access issues this year could become a global shortage next year." "No country will be immune to the social and economic repercussions of such a catastrophe."

Guterres said United Nations negotiators are working on an agreement that would enable Ukraine to export food, including via the Black Sea, and allow Russia to bring food and fertilizers to global markets without restrictions.

He also called for debt relief for poor countries to help sustain their economies and urged the private sector to assist in stabilizing global food markets.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said Moscow's claim that Western sanctions imposed because of Russia's invasion of Ukraine are responsible for the food shortage "is absolutely unacceptable."

But "the Russian attack on Ukraine is what turned the wave into a tsunami."

Baerbock added that Russia exported the same amount of wheat in May and June of this year compared to the same months in 2021.

Guterres' comments echoed that multiple factors lie behind the increasing hunger crisis worldwide.