Africa-Press – Rwanda. <\/strong><\/span>During wartime, as one\u2019s familiar surroundings are inevitably altered, there are many things that can make one sad.<\/p>\nAs a temporary resident of the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa, one of the things I miss most is the sight of enormous bulk carrier ships on the horizon. During my daily walks along the coastline, I\u2019d count how many were lined up to enter the port, and then watch as they filled their cavernous hulls with wheat, barley, corn or sunflower oil before sailing off to distant world markets. On good days, I counted as many as half a dozen ships.<\/p>\n
But the numbers started to dwindle several weeks ago, and I\u2019m not alone in noticing. Local friends had told me the noise from the port brought comfort because it represented normalcy. Now I can understand what they meant. Imagine all the ships in English Bay off Vancouver suddenly disappearing: The effect is eerie.<\/p>\n
After months of reluctant participation, Russian President Vladimir Putin has pulled out of the United Nations-brokered wartime agreement to partially lift a blockade of the Black Sea and allow ships in and out of Ukrainian ports, and the sea traffic has come to a standstill. The last commercial ship to set sail from Odesa departed on July 16.<\/p>\n
Since it was implemented last year, the Black Sea Grain Initiative allowed for almost 33 million metric tonnes of commodities to be exported \u2013 with well over half going to poorer countries such as Egypt, Bangladesh, Libya, Yemen and Iraq. In 2023, the World Food Programme received about 80 per cent of its grain from Ukraine.<\/p>\n
What we didn\u2019t expect was that Mr. Putin would target port infrastructure here in Odesa and farther southwest along the Danube River, where grain exports were moved to evade Russian blockades and to avoid being targeted. With a bumper harvest and an economy hobbled by sanctions, it appeared to be a tactic to remove Ukraine as a reliable food exporter and increase the world\u2019s reliance on Russia. That is now hurting enemies and allies alike, indicating a new level of desperation, and exposing him as the cornered rodent that he is.<\/p>\n
In the end, it may be pressure from Russia\u2019s friends in Africa that nudges Mr. Putin back into the grain deal. African leaders have made clear that they are tiring of Moscow\u2019s weaponization of food and territorial adventurism. No surprise there: Many of the people the WFP was feeding with Ukrainian grain \u201cwere already hanging by a thread,\u201d spokesperson Steve Taravella said.<\/p>\n
At the Africa-Russia summit in St. Petersburg last month, only 20 African countries were represented, fewer than half of the 43 that attended in 2019; big players such as Kenya were notably absent. Mr. Putin\u2019s offer of 25,000 to 50,000 tonnes of grain to six countries was a joke considering these countries normally require much more. Mr. Putin\u2019s only remaining tactic is to bully all those who stand in his way.<\/p>\n
Rama Yade, a former French secretary of foreign affairs and human rights who is now senior director of the Atlantic Council\u2019s Africa Centre, says that the African continent appears to have become more unified since Russia\u2019s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, when some capitals refused to condemn the action in the UN. However, in 2022, no African country supported the annexation of Ukrainian territory. \u201cThese shifts show that some African countries, although tied to Russia through history and a variety of co-operative relationships, do not endorse Russia\u2019s use of violence to attack neighbours or annex parts of their territories,\u201d Ms. Yade told me.<\/p>\n
In contrast to Russia, Ukraine is serious about its role as a major supplier of food for countries on the edge of starvation. Despite the threats of maritime mines and Russian strikes, the Ukrainian Navy announced this week the opening of sea corridors for commercial ships from three ports in the Odesa region.<\/p>\n
But in order to secure these routes and reassure nervous shipowners, Ukraine will need the most advanced air defence systems \u2013 chiefly the U.S.-built Patriot surface-to-air system \u2013 to deter Russian cruise missiles. NATO also needs to finally provide armed escorts for commercial ships in international waters, even if this is interpreted by Russia as an escalation.<\/p>\n
This would in effect represent the second major step in the West\u2019s direct involvement in the war. The first was the supply of defensive and offensive weapons; the third and final phase would be boots on the ground and pilots in the air over Ukraine\u2019s sovereign territory.<\/p>\n
But anything less will allow the Kremlin to further weaponize food and degrade Ukraine\u2019s role as food supplier to the world.<\/p>\n
source:theglobeandmail<\/b><\/p>\n
For More News And Analysis About Rwanda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MICHAEL BOCIURKIW Africa-Press – Rwanda. During wartime, as one\u2019s familiar surroundings are inevitably altered, there are many things that can make one sad. As a temporary resident of the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa, one of the things I miss most is the sight of enormous bulk carrier ships on the horizon. During my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":49833,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,761],"tags":[760,763,758],"class_list":["post-49834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-rwanda","tag-rwanda"],"yoast_head":"\n
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