Kremlin gives in on grain dispute |
Putin makes a fool of himself with a new bluff
What an embarrassment for Kremlin dictator Vladimir Putin (70)!
For days Moscow had tried to blackmail the world with hunger threats. Now Putin had to admit: Again his threats were nothing but a bluff! Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (68) let him run up.
That’s what it’s about: After a Ukrainian attack on Russian warships in the Black Sea, Russia withdrew from the grain agreement. The deal had enabled safe passage for Ukrainian ships, allowing ten million tons of grain to be exported since the beginning of the war.
The agreement was signed under the auspices of the United Nations and Erdogan and was particularly important for poorer countries. 60 percent of the exported grain volume went to Africa and Asia.
Russia’s withdrawal from the agreement made it clear: Putin is ready to use hunger as a weapon! If the Russian fleet attacked Ukrainian grain ships, the sea route for export would be blocked. For parts of Africa and Asia that urgently need Ukrainian grain, that would mean: food crisis, mass starvation.
But Ukraine, the United Nations and Turkey’s President Erdogan, who played a leading role in negotiating the deal, were not unsettled by Putin’s maneuvers. On Monday it was announced that 14 grain ships had set out for Africa – despite Putin’s withdrawal from the deal that guaranteed the ships’ safe passage.
The world wondered: would Putin attack the ships?
On Wednesday, the Kremlin suddenly gave in. Moscow said it would rejoin the deal with Ukraine, the United Nations and Turkey. Erdogan announced that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu (67) had promised him that the grain deal would be followed again from Wednesday.
A Shoigu spokesman said Ukraine had pledged to stop using the ports involved in the agreement to attack Russian warships.
In plain language: Russia’s dramatic exit from the agreement and the associated threats vanished into thin air!
Nico Lange (47), head of the Defense Ministry’s management team until 2021, said on Twitter: “No one allowed themselves to be blackmailed, now Russia is participating in the agreement on the delivery of Ukrainian grain again.”
Lange demands: “We should learn from this again: If you resist his threats and attempts at intimidation in a united and calm manner, then Putin will withdraw.”