In response to the broken grain deal, Ukraine began attacking Russian transport ships. They transport petroleum products – also to European countries.
Officially, the United Kingdom and the countries of the European Union will no longer import oil by sea from Russia from December 5, 2022. At the beginning of 2023, the import of petroleum products was also banned. However, the actual trade continues. Russian oil exports to EU countries began to go through intermediaries Turkey or India, among others. However, at the moment, practical compliance with the sanctions can be enforced by the Ukrainians themselves – through attacks on transport ships.
Reaction to breaking the grain deal
“Everything that the Russians transport through the Black Sea is our important military target,” said Oleh Ustenko, economic adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky. He announced Kiev’s new strategy on August 8 in an interview for the Politico portal. Ustenko stressed that this is how Ukraine reacted to Russia’s broken grain deal.
The grain agreement concluded in July 2022 was intended to ensure that the export of Ukrainian grain to (mainly African) distressed countries would run smoothly. A year later, the Kremlin broke the agreement, arguing that the other party was not complying with its provisions regarding the export of Russian agricultural products. Moscow announced that from July 20 it will recognize all third-country ships calling at Ukrainian ports as participants in the war on the enemy’s side.
Press allies
“Ukraine is guided by its own interests and that does not always coincide with the interests of its Western partners,” said Dr. Daniel Szeligowski, coordinator of the Eastern Europe program at the Polish Institute of International Affairs. Exports of agricultural products by sea are one of the engines of the Ukrainian economy, which has been hit hard by the ongoing war.
Ukrainian attacks on Russian carriers will backfire on European countries and companies. Ukraine puts its allies against the wall, which they don’t have to like.
– This is a kind of pressure on the West: give us what we need for an effective counter-offensive, then we will not attack Russian oil shipments in the Black Sea – emphasizes Dr. Szeligowski.
Source: Do Rzeczy
Roy Brown is a renowned economist and author at The Nation View. He has a deep understanding of the global economy and its intricacies. He writes about a wide range of economic topics, including monetary policy, fiscal policy, international trade, and labor markets.
