06/16/2022 / By Ethan Huff
After imposing sanctions that resulted in sharp decreases in supplies of agricultural inputs coupled with ever-rising inflation, the Biden regime is now asking agricultural and shipping companies to purchase and hold more Russian fertilizer.
People familiar with the matter, according to Bloomberg, are essentially begging U.S. companies, albeit quietly, to buy and keep on hand Russian fertilizer in order to boost the domestic grain trade.
The official story, according to the Western corporate-controlled media, is that Russia is responsible for the crisis, using “food as a weapon” in its “special operation” against Ukraine. Russia, we are told, attacked key ports around the Black Sea for this very purpose.
Russia denies all this, however, blaming sanctions imposed by the United States and other NATO-allied nations for the food crisis that is now occurring all around the world.
Both the European Union (EU) and the U.S. included exemptions into their anti-Russia sanctions allowing for fertilizer to be purchased, seeing as how Russia is a key global supplier of it.
“But many shippers, banks and insurers have been staying away from the trade out of fear they could inadvertently fall afoul of the rules,” Bloomberg reports.
“Russian fertilizer exports are down 24% this year. U.S. officials, surprised by the extent of the caution, are in the seemingly paradoxical position of looking for ways to boost them.”
It would seem as though the Biden regime and its NATO allies went too far with their anti-Russia agenda, which is now backfiring in a major way. The collateral damage to the global economy is unprecedented with no real end in sight.
Russian commodities that much of the world relies on have been in very short supply, including the natural gas and oil required to produce fertilizer and grains. Prices for all of these items have been spiking ever higher since the invasion began back in February.
United Nations-led talks were held in Moscow earlier this month, and the U.S. sent a representative there to discuss supply issues. If fertilizer remains short, then next year’s crops will suffer in addition to the current poor crops of this year.
Russia has said that if the U.S. provides assurances that buyers and shippers of its fertilizer and grain will not be subject to sanctions, then perhaps shipments of Ukrainian farm products will be unblocked.
“For Russia, it’s really important that U.S. authorities send a clear signal that these deals are permitted and in the interest of global food security and they shouldn’t refuse to carry them out,” said Ivan Timofeev, a sanctions specialist at the Kremlin-founded Russian International Affairs Council.
According to the country’s Grain Union, total shipments are down this season by only 14 percent, while wheat exports actually doubled in May.
“By contrast, more than 25 million tons of grain, sunflower oil and other commodities are stuck in Ukraine because of security fears in the Black Sea ports and shipping lanes traditionally used to carry them to global markets,” Bloomberg further reports.
“Officials warn the situation will become more dire with the new harvest beginning.”
During the talks, Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed Ukraine for the current crisis because that country will not remove mines from ports that were placed there to defend against possible attacks by Russian forces.
Russia does not want to send in ships, in other words, only to have them get attacked by Ukrainian weapons.
On the flip side, Ukraine says it is not convinced that Russia will not strike once the defenses are down, adding that Russia had previously promised before the invasion that it would not even invade.
The latest news about the Russia-Ukraine conflict can be found at Chaos.news.
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Tagged Under:
agriculture, collapse, crops, economy, fertilizer, grain, grain shipments, harvest, Joe Biden, Russia, Russia-Ukraine war, Russian fertilizer, sanctions, stupid, Vladimir Putin, WWIII
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