WASHINGTON - Washington is considering sending advanced anti-ship missiles to Ukraine in order to sink Moscow’s war vessels and end the Kremlin’s naval food blockade.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been blamed for creating a global food crisis by blocking Ukrainian ports to prevent grain and other produce from leaving the so-called “breadbasket of Europe”.

When Putin “blocks our ports… he is blackmailing the world”, said Ala Stoyanova, the deputy governor of Odessa.

Bryan Clark, a naval expert at the Hudson Institute in Washington, said Ukraine could “take out the largest Russian ships since they have nowhere to hide in the Black Sea”.