Posted on 09/04/2023 3:42:55 AM PDT by RandFan
Talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan began on Monday with the Turkish leader seeking to persuade Russia to revive an agreement that allowed Ukraine to export grain and other commodities from three Black Sea ports.
Putin in July refused to extend the agreement, which was brokered by Turkey and the United Nations a year earlier.
Russia complained that a parallel deal promising to remove obstacles to Russian exports of food and fertilizer hadn’t been honored. It said restrictions on shipping and insurance hampered its agricultural trade even though it has shipped record amounts of wheat since last year.
Opening the talks, Putin said he was open to discussing the grain deal, among other issues.
The two leaders met in Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi, where the Russian president has a residence. A lot is riding on the talks for the world food supply.
(Excerpt) Read more at apnews.com ...
A Muslim Turk doing more to help feed the world than a pretend Christian occupant of the White House and the Vatican.
If this unnecessary disaster matures into Ezekiel 38 there’s already a couple of key players in Turkey and Russia.
For that to eventually happen, Libya and especially Iran have to get involved. Apparently Iranian drones are already being used.
"...to revive the wartime Ukraine grain deal" is likely incorrect. A new agreement has not been reached.
But oddly, AP says " 57% of the grain from Ukraine went to developing nations, with the top destination being China, which received nearly a quarter of the food."
The top five wheat producers (2021 stats, Wiki) show China, India, Russia, the United States and France producing 12 1/2 times more than Ukraine, such that what is "seen as vital for global food supplies" in APs verbiage is a matter of pricing, price speculation as commodities, and a small bump in the larger scheme of things, In fact Turkey ships about half as much as has Ukraine in the past.
What then of the "deal?" One reads, "South American grain exports are set to overshadow Black Sea shipments this year as doubts grow over a UN-backed Ukraine deal and international traders cut commercial activities in Russia, a top executive with major commodities group Cargill said." (Reuters, June 15, 2023)
Additinally, from Reuters: "Other leading traders, including Louis Dreyfus and Viterra, have also joined the Russian grain export exodus in recent months. 'It has become more complicated for us,' Dieleman said. 'Our activity is clearly less.' Cargill is one of the world's biggest charterers of dry bulk ships."
The AP cites a UK think tank, " 'My gut feeling is that Putin recognizes the leverage he has by using food as an economic weapon, and thus will fight for all he can get in terms of concessions on his wish-list,' said Tim Benton, a food security expert at the Chatham House think tank."
Including Chatham House is also interesting, when one recalls this UK think tank's rule: "The Chatham House Rule helps create a trusted environment to understand and resolve complex problems. Its guiding spirit is: share the information you receive, but do not reveal the identity of who said it."
The UK's roll and Chatham's as a tiny subset of the UK is small, though the involvement of Boris Johnson in the Ukraine war is recalled. Why does AP include their view? "Food as an economic weapon." Works both ways, of course.
One reads: "Top Agriculture Trader Cargill to Stop Exporting Russian Grain." Moscow Times, March 29, 2023. But earlier one learns: "Cargill announced it has become the majority shareholder (51%) of the Neptune joint venture, a deep-water grain terminal." (In Odessa) World Grain, July 20, 2021.
There is much behind the scenes, which the media does not headline. "Grain deal" means multi-nationals, in large part.
So many players, all involved in seeing "trade" continues. Cui bono?
It doesn’t really matter
Belarus has absorbed the Wagner troops and has deserted Putin
Lyashenko saw the writing on the wall and abandoned Putin in favor of Europe.
Erdogan is basically a loser who can not redeem himself nor Turkey. Screwing around with Russia is just an Ergdogan gambit to seem important to the world
Ergogdan is playing both sides. Just why did we let them into NATO? Same with Greece. Think flight 007.
Turkey has NATO bases that flank Russia
I have had this impression of him for decades. When we lived in Berlin, he would occasionally show up, mouth Islamic stuff, but had a reputation for being a little "less than...."
That Turkey remains in NATO while held at "wait your turn" arm's length from the EU since 1987 is telling. That the EU has played the "application accepted" gambit in 2004, but not followed on to actual membership shows that as he plays the world, the world is playing him.
Turkey is a nation, like India, with many languages and cultures. Erdogan plays rural Turkey like a fiddle during elections, but he is not playing the EU with the same virtuosity.
Our greengrocer in Germany, when we were living there, hated him with a passion, but 'admired' that he managed to survive amid so much corruption.
“Lyashenko saw the writing on the wall and abandoned Putin in favor of Europe.”
Really? Then what do you imagine happens to the tactical nuclear weapons Putin placed In Belarus in June? Also abandoned?
If Wagner has “deserted Putin”, who do they serve? Who pays them now?
Russia’s Putin says there will be no new grain deal until the West meets his demands
He also said that Russia is close to finalizing an agreement to provide free grain to six African countries. The Russian leader added that Russia will ship 1 million metric tons (1.1 million tons) of cheap grain to Turkey for processing and delivery to poor countries.
Remember.... 10% for the Big Guy(s).... :>>>
There were a lot of problems with the old ‘grain deal’, one of them being that the arriving ships were likely not completely ‘empty’ (otherwise reviving the deal would be so important to the Neocons), so Russia needs to get a better look at them in the future, and another was the agreed-to connection of the Russian Agricultural Bank to SWIFT, which, as usual, the Neocons reneged on.
I’m sure there are plenty of other problems, but just the two above will be enough to prevent a resumption of the old deal.
It is reported that they are integrated into the Belarusian Army
Further, all Russians troops were ordered out and apparently did not leave so their present status is unknown except they are no longer Russian Troops. It seems that Russia did in fact lose a lot of troops and stuff.
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