Putin’s attack on the grain deal was despicable. It also shows he’s desperate
Over the weekend, Russia signed a deal with Ukraine to allow grain exports to resume from three Ukrainian ports, thereby easing the global food crisis. Before the ink was dry, Russian forces fired precision missiles into the port of Odesa as grain was being readied for export.
This is clearly the behaviour of a tyrannical despot, one whose word cannot be trusted. But it may also be an act of desperation: Richard Moore, the head of MI6, told a US security conference last week that the Russian army is about to “run out of steam”.
The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has approached the conflict as though it were a second world war tank battle – and, unsurprisingly, his 20th-century tactics are not standing up to 21st-century weaponry. But we know from the Russian playbook in Syria that when the conventional does not work, Putin is quick to turn to the unconventional. In Syria, this meant attacking hospitals and schools, denying aid and, ultimately, using chemical weapons. In Ukraine, another Russian war crime is about to happen in plain sight, even after the grain deal: the weaponisation of food and fuel. If we allow this to happen, it is not such a large step to chemical, biological or nuclear warfare, all of which Russia has already threatened.
The weaponisation of food has already forced up prices for those who can least afford it in Africa and Asia, putting millions at the threat of starvation. The grain deal, brokered by Nato member Turkey, should allow food from Ukraine to reach these countries, but any guarantees of safety for the ships transporting it– especially in the wake of Russia’s attack on Odesa this weekend – should be taken with a pinch of salt.
As soon as these ships get into international waters off the
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