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A Call For Diplomacy
Most of us have heard that Russia has exited the Black Sea grain deal, which involved an agreement between Russia, Ukraine and Turkiye to facilitate safe passage of grain from Russia and Ukraine to the rest of the world.
Many sources report with the presentation that this only involves wheat but there is far more involved. This also involves corn, sunflower, soybean, rapeseed and fertilizer. Russia is the largest single source globally for fertilizer and wheat. While Ukraine exports a large amount of wheat, their importance has been overstated, being the fifth largest wheat exporter globally.
Why did Russia exit this deal? If you listen to some sources, Russia is weaponizing the global food supply. In a sense, this has a modicum of truth. However, there is far more to this which those same sources do not mention.
This grain deal was implemented in July 2022. This agreement had multiple parts, which included supply of 40% of Russian grain and millions of tons of fertilizer to be supplied, free of charge, to poor countries across the globe, especially countries in Africa. It also included sections which banned the import of weapons through the Black Sea corridor and also weapons production and storage in close proximity to grain storage. It also included a method of payment to Russia for the remaining 60% of grain and fertilizer, as sanctions had blocked Russian access to the SWIFT system and many countries have refused to pay using Russian rubles.
