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

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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.

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.