John Deere has suspended its shipments of machinery to Russia amid the country's ongoing conflict with Ukraine.

In a statement, the machinery giant said: "John Deere is deeply saddened by the significant escalation of events in Ukraine.

"Our thoughts are with our employees, their families as well as our dealers, customers and all those impacted by this crisis," the statement continued.

Two weeks ago, John Deere suspended shipments of machines to Russia and then subsequently, Belarus.

"We continue to monitor the situation closely while we fully abide by US and international sanctions," the statement from the company outlined.

"Our mission is, and always has been, to help our customers feed the world," the company added.

Meanwhile, last week dairies in the European Union (EU) were being called on to stop exporting to Russia and, instead, send their products to Ukraine as emergency relief.

The call came from the European Milk Board, which has strongly condemned Russia’s attack on Ukraine.

In a statement, the milk board said it wants an immediate end to the war in Ukraine and pledged the support of farmers from the EU from those impacted by the invasion.