Russia Stops Ukraine Grain Deal, Shaking World Food Markets

[libertybele]

So the cost for a loaf of bread will probably double or the bread shelves will be empty.

Perhaps up the production of wheat and grains in the U.S.??

Russia Stops Ukraine Grain Deal, Shaking World Food Markets

Russia said on Monday it was withdrawing from a wartime agreement to allow grain exports from Ukraine through the Black Sea until its demands to loosen sanctions on its own agricultural exports were met, upending a deal that has helped stabilize global food prices and alleviate shortages in parts of Africa and the Middle East.

The agreement, known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative, was struck a year ago, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey, to alleviate a global food crisis after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Russia had blockaded Ukrainian ports, blocking ships from carrying its grain and sending global prices soaring to record highs. The deal has been extended three times, most recently in May. The latest extension expired on Monday.

The United Nations’ secretary general, António Guterres, said he was “deeply disappointed” by Moscow’s decision, and that millions of people facing hunger, as well as consumers confronting a cost-of-living crisis, would “pay a price.” He also said he had sent proposals last week to President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia to facilitate Moscow’s demands. Mr. Putin never responded directly, a U.N. spokesman said.

Russia has repeatedly complained about the agreement, which it calls one-sided in Ukraine’s favor. Moscow has said that Western sanctions, imposed because of Moscow’s devastating war, have restricted the sale of Russia’s agricultural products, and Moscow has sought guarantees that free up those exports.

In April, Russia’s Foreign Ministry also listed other demands to renew the grain deal: reconnect the state-owned Russian Agricultural Bank to the international SWIFT messaging service that is critical for cross-border payments; lift restrictions on maritime insurance and on the supply of spare parts used in agricultural machinery; end sanctions against fertilizer companies and the people linked to them; and restore an ammonia pipeline that crosses Ukraine..................

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/17/world/europe/ukraine-grain-deal-russia-war.html

[jafo2010]

Putin did it because he is running out of options in this war.  His military is mediocre on its best day, and his only options are to halt Ukraine's economy, food to the world population be damned.

And Wrecking Ball Joe is not a consideration because he does not know where he is half the time.  If one were to look at this as a comedy, it could not be funnier.  Zellinsky, the modern day Churchill according to idiot George Bush, Biden, dead from the neck up, who believes his crack using son is the smartest person he ever knew, and Putin, who assumed his military would have a ten day war, and will not win in ten years.  One has to laugh at this comedy of idiots.   The Keystone Cops have nothing on these clowns.