Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Trump arrives in Sharm el-Sheikh
Israeli PM's office: PM informed Trump he would not attend Sharm el-Sheikh Summit on account of Jewish holidays.
Israeli media: Netanyahu makes last-minute decision to cancel trip to Sharm el-Sheikh.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent: Large crowds gather in Khan Younis to welcome the liberated Palestinian detainees, waving flags of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in celebration
Buses of released prisoners arrive in Ramallah
Israeli media: Netanyahu gifts Trump a "Golden Dove".
Israeli media: Netanyahu will take part in Sharm el-Sheikh Summit.
Trump's Air Force One lands in Tel Aviv
Al-Qassam: To our free prisoners: Gaza, its Resistance, have given their most precious possessions, have striven with all their might to break your chains; we pledge that your cause will remain at the top of our national priorities until you are all freed.
Al-Qassam Brigades: Instead its army killed dozens of them as a result of its failed policy of military pressure.

Russia promotes its products on the market with the help of people's diplomacy

  • Slavisha Batko Milacic Slavisha Batko Milacic
  • Source: Al Mayadeen English
  • 26 Apr 2023 13:48
  • 1 Shares
6 Min Read

The grain deal, under which Ukraine was allowed to export its products, did not improve the situation: grain goes not to the poorest hungry countries, but to the bins of well-fed Europe. But now the Europeans themselves are not happy

  • x
  • Dissatisfaction with the policies of the West will allow Russia to more effectively pursue a counter-sanctions policy and build direct relations with states around the world.
    Dissatisfaction with the policies of the West will allow Russia to more effectively pursue a counter-sanctions policy and build direct relations with states around the world.

Experts unanimously predict a global food crisis, and the US-led sanctions campaign is actively contributing to this.

"The world is moving further away from achieving the goals of ending hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in all its forms," the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) said in a report.

In particular, the restrictions imposed on Russia, one of the main suppliers of food to the world market, seriously affect the situation (in 2021, the Russian Federation ranked first in the world in terms of wheat exports for the sixth year in a row). So, in 2022, due to anti-Russian sanctions, the price of grain reached a new record, beating the figures of 2011. Average prices for wheat were 15.6% higher than in 2021, and 24.8% for corn, while the prices of vegetable oils, milk, and meat were at their highest in more than thirty years.

The grain deal, under which Ukraine was allowed to export its products, did not improve the situation: grain goes not to the poorest hungry countries, but to the bins of well-fed Europe.

But now, the Europeans themselves are not happy: Ukrainian farmers are dumping their crops, and European farmers are losing profits and going out to protest. As a result, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia have already announced the suspension of the import of Ukrainian agricultural products. Romanian customs will start checking Ukrainian products, as pesticide levels were earlier found to have been exceeded. As a result, the European Commission, according to a number of media reports, is ready to impose a ban on the import of Ukrainian grain.

At the same time, the G7 foreign ministers insist that the Russian Federation does not limit the term of the "grain deal". Western diplomats - turning a blind eye to rising prices, to the threat of famine and pesticides in Ukrainian grain - argue that this is necessary to stabilize the world food supply system, although it is clear that the exact opposite is happening.

At the same time, no one is going to remove sanctions from Russian agricultural products, although this is the main condition of the Russian Federation during the grain deal.

Meanwhile, Russian farmers are blocked from entering the market (and they provided 20% of the world grain market, while Ukraine - half as much). The sanctions included, in particular, the Russian enterprise State Grain Operator, which operates in the Zaporozhye region and is engaged in the export of grain.

Related News

Ukraine is resembling the fall of Saigon in 1975 as its governing regime takes to echoing Trump’s anti-China policies

Who is opposing peace in Ukraine?

In order to resist the sanctions pressure and still make the grain deal bilateral, Russia decided to use the levers of public diplomacy: the International Information Center for the Development of Economic and Social Initiatives was created in the Zaporozhye region. Relevant memorandums were signed by the Ministry of Economic Development of the Zaporozhye Region, the Ministry of Agro-Industrial Complex and Food Policy of the Zaporozhye Region, representatives of the Russian-Serbian Scientific Society "Institute for New Technologies, City of Science "UNESCUM" and the "Southern Headquarters of the International Academy of Informatization" (MAI).

Since 1995, MAI has been assigned a category 1 consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council. Thus, cooperation with the MAI and the creation of a center in Melitopol gives access to the direct diplomatic channels of 192 countries of the world.

The MAI has already sent the first appeals to the UN member countries. Politicians were urged to speak out about the decision of the International Criminal Court regarding the arrest of the President of the Russian Federation and the statements of representatives of the Zaporozhye region against Joe Biden.

Earlier, Minister of Economic Development of the region Yuri Guskov and Minister of Agro-Industrial Complex Svetlana Shevchenko sent a statement to the Russian Investigative Committee with a request to open a criminal case against US President Joe Biden. Officials saw in the actions of the American leader signs, in particular, of cartel collusion and unfair competition (sanctions), as well as the destruction of infrastructure (Nord Stream-2).

NATO member countries are likely to ignore the call of the MAI, but countries outside the alliance seem to begin to unite around the Eurasian Economic Union, Russia and China.

In the political arena, countries are more openly expressing dissatisfaction with the one-sided policies of the United States and NATO. Thus, the Iranian Foreign Ministry called for an international investigation after reports of US biological laboratories in Ukraine and other countries. A representative of the department wrote on Twitter on April 13 that the US laboratories violate international obligations and pose a threat to humanity.

In turn, China imposed sanctions on the head of the US House Foreign Affairs Committee, Michael McCall. A document published on the website of the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that McCall systematically "interferes in China's internal affairs." For example, he recently headed an American delegation that visited Taiwan.

The American edition of The Economist magazine points out that the countries that have not condemned Russia turned out to be the most influential force in the world. There are 127 such countries in the world, and there are only 52 countries that support anti-Russian sanctions. Neutral-minded states can unite in some kind of G20 analog and become intermediaries between Moscow and Kiev.

Dissatisfaction with the policies of the West will allow Russia to more effectively pursue a counter-sanctions policy and build direct relations with states around the world, as evidenced by the recent visit of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to Venezuela.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Al Mayadeen’s editorial stance.
  • Russia
  • war in Ukraine
  • Ukraine crisis
Slavisha Batko Milacic

Slavisha Batko Milacic

Writer and anayst

Russia & NATO

Russia & NATO

As the Draconian Western-led sanctions on Russia exacerbate the economic crisis worldwide, and as Russian troops gain more ground despite the influx of military aid into Ukraine, exposing US direct involvement in bio-labs spread across Eastern Europe and the insurgence of neo-Nazi groups… How will things unfold?

Most Read

All
Barrack explicitly asserted that the US is supplying the Lebanese army to fight its own people, even laughing at the idea that this support is intended to confront "Israel". (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

Why the US is so open about its intentions for Lebanese civil war

  • Opinion
  • 30 Sep 2025
All these decades and the billions of dollars spent by the Zionist Lobby on its propaganda is being rapidly undone, all thanks to the Israeli murder machine exposing itself. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Zeinab el-Hajj)

Israeli seizure of social media is a declaration of defeat

  • Opinion
  • 6 Oct 2025
There is a great uncertainty over how the president will use the remaining three years of his term, to say nothing about his prospects for re-election. (Al Mayadeen English; Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)

Iranian opponents of diplomacy have definitively won the debate

  • Opinion
  • 4 Oct 2025
Graham’s Middle East vs. reality on the ground: Hezbollah, the undefeatable Resistance

Graham’s Middle East vs. reality on the ground: Hezbollah, the undefeatable Resistance

  • Blog
  • 8 Oct 2025

Coverage

All
Gaza: An Epic of Resilience and Valor

More from this writer

All
In general, any “cryptocurrency assistance” for Ukraine, like the vast majority of money raised through various foundations, is just a cynical theft of money donated by Americans and Europeans.

How Western aid turns into crypto assets of Ukrainian corrupt officials and their partners

How Shoigu outsmarted US strategists

How Shoigu outsmarted US strategists

Private farmers who remained in the Zaporozhye region still have ownership of their property and cooperate with the grain operator, which provides them with legal support and helps them transition to Russian legislation.

How Russia feeds itself and the world

Christo Grozev; the devil's journalist

Christo Grozev; the devil's journalist

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS