There’s no shortage of grain to feed the world.
According to International Grains Council data last month:
“Total (2022-23) global grain production at 2.251 billion metric tons (is estimated to be) the second largest on record.”
[Note Datz: Ukrainian exports in especial rose this year: see here]
While wheat is second only to corn as the most produced grain, global trade in the former commodity is greater than all other crops combined.
EU bloc countries combined are its largest producer.
China, India and Russia are the largest individual country producers, the US ranking fourth.
Ukraine’s wheat and other grains for export are less than 1% of the world’s total.
On Thursday, Sergey Lavrov stressed the following:
US/Western regimes and Kiev continue to falsely claim that Russia is blocking the latter’s grain exports, adding:
“The share of Ukrainian grain that is at stake is less than one percent of the global production of wheat and other cereals.”
“The current situation with Ukrainian grain has nothing to do with a food crisis.”
For over a month, Russia’s Black Sea Fleet opened humanitarian corridors from Ukrainian waters to the Bosporus Strait.
From there, vessels can sail to the Sea of Marmara to the Aegean Sea to the Dardanelles to the Mediterranean Sea.
Vessels into and outgoing from Ukraine can use Russian-established corridors as long as the Zelensky regime demines its offshore waters entirely.
Yet puppet Zelensky asked his US master for anti-ship weapons, a request Lavrov called “unhinged.”
Defying reality, he also falsely claimed that Russian cooperation to facilitate Ukrainian grain exports isn’t credible (sic).
Brussels also falsely accused Moscow of “weaponizing” food supplies in pursuit of its SMO objectives (sic).
While US/Western sanctions war on Russia excludes food exports, restrictions on its vessels and banks obstruct its ability to export grains to world markets.
Moscow and Ankara are working cooperatively to facilitate these exports, including by Ukraine.
Yet in his scripted nightly propaganda addresses, Zelensky ignored the issue of Ukrainian mines in its offshore waters.
If this task is undertaken and completed, no obstacle stands in the way of exporting the regime’s grain to whatever destinations it chooses.
Lavrov stressed it, saying all that’s “needed to resolve this problem is for (Ukraine) to let ships leave their ports either by clearing mines or by designating safe corridors. That is all.”
Failure to undertake and complete this task lies in Kiev and Washington — home of its paymaster — not in Moscow.
Claims by Zelensky and other regime officials about Russia attacking or otherwise obstructing its demining efforts are a red herring.
Moscow guaranteed the security of designated routes, Lavrov stressed, adding:
“When and if (the Zelensky regime) “decides to demine its ports, we will not use this situation in the interests of our special military operation.”
“These are (indisputable) guarantees.”
US/Western/Kiev claims about theft of Ukrainian grain by Russia are infowar propaganda rubbish.
Stressing reality once again, Lavrov said the Kiev regime controls its grain.
Russia created no obstacles to its export.
“To do this, (puppet) Zelensky must give a command (if he still commands anything) to allow foreign and Ukrainian ships out to the Black Sea.”
According to NYT fake news:
“It is not clear that mines (in offshore) Ukrainian” waters were the regime’s doing (sic).
No Russian mines were laid offshore or anywhere in Ukraine or Donbass.
No Russian intention exists to “exploit demined harbors to dispatch an invasion fleet (sic).”
No Russian warships threaten Black Sea shipping lanes.
The Times quoted Kiev’s so-called foreign minister Kuleba’s perversion of reality, falsely saying:
“We cannot trust Putin. His words are empty (sic).”
The Times failed to debunk his Big Lies.
Nor similar ones by Ukraine’s so-called national security and war council secretary, Oleksiy Danilov, falsely saying:
Russia “artificially created obstacles to seize the market and blackmail Europe over food shortages (sic).”
And this Times Big Lie:
Citing nonexistent US satellite imagery, it falsely accused Russia “of looting Ukrainian wheat stocks (sic).”
No Russian looting of what belongs to Ukraine or any other countries occurred — how the empire of lies and its Western vassals operate, not Moscow. [Datz: there is photo/video evidence of granaries and grain being torched; Russia claims this was done by retreating Ukrainian forces]-
European Commission head, Ursula von der Leyen, also falsely accused Russia of blocking Ukrainian grain exports — knowing that nothing of the sort occurred.
While dominant Biden regime hardliners pretend a “commitment to getting Ukraine’s grain to international markets,” they conspired with its Western vassals and Kiev to block its exports — so Russia can be falsely blamed for what it had nothing to do with.