Global prices for food commodities like rice and vegetable oil have risen for the first time in months after Russia pulled out of a wartime agreement allowing Ukraine to ship grain to the world, and India restricted some of its rice exports, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said Friday.
Being slightly ignorant to the politics of this, what is motivation for Russia to do this? I realize it will harm Ukraine financially, but will that really affect Ukraine’s war machine as it’s dependent on Western support already? Won’t this just galvanize the West to continue to support Ukraine to re-establish grain shipments?
It’s their only hope: starve enough people for a peace settlement that favors them (keeping what they have)
Slowly losing their Black Sea fleet and slowly losing ground is not great for Russia.
In addition, it gives Russia leverage over countries that have been dependent on Ukrainian grain. Russia is trying to get them to depend now on cheap Russian grain.
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*megalomaniac
Global famine starts. People run to Europe. Europe lifts sanctions and stops sending arms to Ukraine. Ukraine becomes part of Russia. Grain gets sent again.
https://cfaes.osu.edu/news/articles/record-wheat-prices-prompt-more-ohio-farmers-plant-wheat-year
This article is a year old, but even in the US farmers are taking advantage of the shortages caused by the war.
Local (Ohio) farmers near us have planted wheat for the first time in at least 20 years instead of the usually soy/corn yearly summer rotation. It’s weird enough to see wheat in the fields that something must be driving it.
