Russia Pulls Out of Grain Deal Citing Ukrainian Attack, West Claims to Care About Food Crisis

Russia has announced it is suspending a grain deal with Ukraine, and the same Western countries that said the agreement would never work are now insisting that Moscow’s departure will cause mass starvation.   But it was the West that was benefitting from the deal that was meant to help the world’s poorest countries…

The grain deal was made back in July, and it was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey. The agreement was to allow the export of grain shipments to resume at three ports along the Black Sea. At the time, Ukraine was accusing Russia of blocking the area, and Russia was accusing Ukraine of mining the area near ports, thus preventing the safe passage of ships.

The plan was to allow Ukraine to escort the ships through de-mined waters—while also allowing Russia and others to inspect the shipments to ensure that they didn’t include weapons. (Also, just a quick note that ironically, Ukraine was the one claiming they definitely didn’t mine the ports, but then also claiming they could safely escort the ships—implying that they knew where the mines were…)

The deal was called “a beacon of hope” by the United Nations, as it had the ambition of provided much-needed relief for nations in Africa and the Middle East, which are experiencing the worst of the global food crisis. 

But that’s not what happened. Russia estimates that just THREE PERCENT of the agricultural products went to the world’s poorest countries, such as Somalia, Ethiopia, Yemen, Sudan and Afghanistan. Instead, they say that the majority, if not all of some of the shipments were going straight to EU member states—so THEY were the ones benefitting the most. 

While Moscow has been raising these complaints for weeks, its decision to suspend participation in the deal was made after a Ukrainian attack against ships of the Black Sea Fleet and civilian vessels involved in ensuring the security of the grain corridor.

So, it’s one thing if the deal isn’t helping the countries it said it would – but it’s another thing when the ships that are supposed to be guaranteed a safe passage are now being intentionally attacked by the country that is supposed to be upholding its part of the deal. 

This also comes weeks after the terrorist attack on the Crimean Bridge, which raised concerns that the truck carrying the explosives was able to use a Black Sea route established by the grain deal, in a plot from Ukrainian Intelligence.

Fast forward to the latest attack, and now Russia’s Ministry of Defense is alleging that British Military Intelligence worked was involved with Ukraine in targeting the Black Sea Fleet… 

Of course, the West has shown no interest in investigating or even condemning that attack. Instead, Joe Biden called Russia’s decision to leave the deal “purely outrageous,” claiming there was “no reason for them to do that,” and insisting it would increase starvation.

But let’s not forget that it was the Biden Administration which has been loudly expressing its doubts about the deal since day one—claiming its success would be entirely up to Russia, as if Ukraine was not even involved.

However, while the US is throwing out condemnation for a deal that it has had no involvement in and criticized from the start—it’s Russia that is saying it has committed to sending 500,000 tons of grain to the world’s poorest countries itself – presenting a plan to actually tackle the global food crisis in the places where help is needed the most.

But you would never know that by watching the coverage of this story in the Western media, where their continued refusal to present their audience with context serves as reminder that they don’t care about telling you the full story. They only care about telling you what they think you should know—and that’s something everyone should be talking about.