NATO and Ukraine held their second Council this Wednesday under the umbrella of the Atlantic Alliance. There was only one point on the agenda: the grain crisis. After the meeting in Brussels, the 32 ambassadors closed ranks to condemn Russia’s withdrawal from the cereal agreement, the use of hunger as a weapon of war and the recent attacks around the Black Sea.
A little over a week ago, Moscow decided not to extend the agreement it had signed with Ukraine a year ago, mediated by Turkey and the UN, to allow the transit of Ukrainian and Russian grains and fertilizers from Black Sea ports to the rest of the globe. Over the last few days, the EU has not ceased to warn that this siege could translate into a world food crisis with “enormous consequences”. “Russia bears full responsibility for these dangerous actions in the Black Sea region. It must stop using hunger as a weapon of war and threatening the most vulnerable people with food instability,” agreed Jens Stoltenberg, the Alliance’s secretary general. .
NATO urged the Kremlin to reactivate the so-called Black Sea Initiative and applauded the efforts of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who is constantly gaining influence on the global political scene, to revitalize it. “Russia continues to show complete disrespect for international law and for the people around the world who depend on Ukrainian grain. Russia is threatening civilian ships, terrorizing peaceful cities and destroying parts of global cultural heritage with its brutal attacks.” , denounced the Deputy Secretary General of the Alliance, Mircea Geoana, at the end of the meeting.
The current grain crisis has consequences from several arteries. For Ukraine, known as the granary of Europe, it can mean a million-dollar lurch to its income. In developing countries, this blockade can become a shortage and increase in the cost of basic foods, and, consequently, a deepening of famines. The price of wheat has increased this week by 14%. And on the battlefield, with battle lines very stalemate, it is translating into further escalation and growing tension between NATO members and Russia.
Over the past few days, Russia has intensified its drone attacks on Ukrainian Danube ports, just meters from the Romanian border. The conflict moves a little closer to the confines of the Atlantic Alliance and increases the concern that a miscalculation or a badly measured movement increases the contention another notch. At the end of last year, the two missiles that hit Polish territory took half the world’s breath away at the possibility of a direct clash between the Euro-Atlantic axis and Moscow. It is the scenario to avoid. After more than 500 days of war, NATO has always maintained that it is not a direct part of the conflict, but has reiterated that it will defend every inch of its territory.
In recent months, the military forum has redoubled the presence of its battalions in this area. At their second Ukraine-NATO Council, the allies agreed to increase their support for Ukraine and increase their surveillance missiles in the Black Sea region by land, sea and air. kyiv and the military forum raised their cooperation to this new dimension during the last Vilnius summit. With this new Council format, any party can invoke the rest to address a crisis situation and make decisions. This time it has been Ukraine who has demanded the meeting. “Now it is important to reap the harvest of determination, determination of security, so that no one has to end up later as a harvester of chaos… neither in the countries of Africa nor on any other continent,” said the Ukrainian president, Volodimir Zelenski, in a video during the preparations for the meeting.
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