Monday 24 July 2023

Ukraine's grain harvest is approaching crisis

It's grain harvesting time in Ukraine but things are looking pretty bleak. First of all a lot of the cornfields have been smashed up by the Ukrainian military for building defensive positions against Russian attacks. About a quarter of the fields are behind Russian-occupied land and then to make matters much much worse, Putin has axed the deal allowing Ukrainian tankers to export grain via the Black Sea to needy parts of the world which means the Kyiv government is having to switch all its export efforts via road routes to ships on the Danube. And lastly, Putin is targeting grain depots in Odesa and destroying thousands of tons of the harvested crops. It could be Ukraine's worst harvest on record. This will cripple Ukraine's economy which is reliant on grain exports. Putin won't reinstate the grain deal agreed with Turkey unless he gets a quid pro quo from the West, ie get them to lift sanctions against Russia. That's not going to happen. So once again Putin has the trump card to ruin Ukraine's economy and the country's future. How is it possible that the world, including China, is allowing this to go on? It's time for Putin to be given an ultimatum. Enough of this pussy-footing around. The man is a monster and he is sitting in his very luxurious residences laughing his head off.

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