The blockade increases the risk of a serious global food crisis.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Roudenko on Wednesday proposed lifting sanctions against Russia against a resumption of grain trade in the Black Sea: “Resolving the food problem requires coordinated action, in particular the lifting of sanctions imposed on Russia on exports and financial transactions,” said the senior Russian diplomat. From Davos, the Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kouleba denounced “obvious blackmail”.
In fact, the grain markets are under high tension. Ukraine, with its very fertile black soils, was the world’s fourth largest corn exporter before the offensive and is on course to become the world’s third wheat exporter. But the conflict has turned Ukrainian agricultural production and exports upside down. Russia has been accused by Kyiv and the West of preventing grain flows across the Black Sea, the usual route for 70% of exports, particularly at the port of Odessa. This blockade increases the risk of a serious global food crisis, especially since this deficit is compounded by that of Russia, another agricultural power whose production is difficult to sell because of the sanctions. This grain shortage threatens many countries such as Egypt, Lebanon, Ethiopia and Yemen. The latter are therefore calling for corridors to enable exports and avoid possible food shortages.
On the other hand, Moscow was unsurprisingly drawn to Lithuania’s proposal to form a “coalition” of naval powers to protect Black Sea sea lanes. Such a device would seriously aggravate the situation in the Black Sea region,” warned senior Russian diplomat Andrei Roudenko.
A Russian passport
On land, Russia is continuing its pressure on the Donbass and on Sievarodonetsk. “Russian troops are so close that they can fire mortar shells at the city,” said Serguiï Gaïdaï, the region’s governor. The city is also under threat from the south, while Moscow’s troops have broken through at Popasna and several thousand Ukrainians are threatening encirclement. In the Kherson region, Russian authorities will allow residents to apply for a Russian passport through a “simplified procedure.” Such a process was introduced in 2019 in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.