Putin blocking hundreds of ships filled with wheat in the Black Sea: Von der Leyen
Source: ABC
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday accused Russia's President Vladimir Putin of blocking hundreds of ships filled with wheat in the Black Sea.
"Our continent is being rocked by a tectonic shift not seen since the fall of the Berlin Wall. The consequences of this war on Europe's security architecture will be far-reaching. And I'm not just talking about security in military terms, but also energy security and even food security are at stake," she said in a speech to the European Commission.
Von der Leyen added: "The effects of the Russian war go beyond energy of course. They are also disrupting vital food supplies and driving food prices up."
The consequences of this disruption will be felt from Lebanon, Egypt and Tunisia to Africa and the Far East, according to von der Leyen.
"We should not forget that Ukraine alone provides more than half of the world food programs' wheat supply. The shelling and the bombing makes it impossible for Ukrainian farmers to sow," she said. "I call on Putin to let those ships go. Otherwise, he will not only be responsible for a war and death, but also for famine and hunger. Let these ships go," von der Leyen added.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/International/live-updates/russia-ukraine/?id=83390885#83624006
With Russia occupying its northeast shores, it is bordered by six countries - Ukraine to the north, Georgia to the east, Turkey to the south and Bulgaria and Romania to the west. Three of those nations, Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania, are members of NATO and that is a bone of contention for the Kremlin.
https://en.as.com/en/2022/02/25/latest_news/1645814627_130506.html
woodsprite
(11,853 posts)TeamProg
(5,788 posts)sprinkleeninow
(20,133 posts)Evolve Dammit
(16,632 posts)LudwigPastorius
(8,944 posts)He has unleashed War, and with his wheat blockade, Famine.
I'm guessing Death, the fourth horseman, would be his nuclear arsenal.
Jetheels
(991 posts)He will unleash some kind of bioterrorism on the west.
Its less traceable, more undercover.
And would kill way more people than a bomb.
No one would even know it came from him.
Unless he brags about it.
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)He's murdered millions already.
TexLaProgressive
(12,148 posts)I looked, and behold, a pale horse; and he who sat on it had the name Death; and Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with famine and with pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.
FrankTC
(210 posts)Can someone help me see the blocked ships and the blockers? Im looking at the map. Is there a way to increase the resolution? Probably the ships are too small to see on regular resolution. Im using an iPad.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,150 posts)There's no more detail about the ships in the speech either: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/speech_22_1968
I don't think is meant to show the ships, but to illustrate which countries border the Black Sea. But that doesn't help much either.
Perhaps they're ships in Ukrainian ports that think (or have been told) they'd be shelled if they set sail. Perhaps some are in Russian Black Sea ports, and he's ordered them to stay put. If he's said that ships already at sea will be attacked, that ought to be reported.
The Turkish news agency thinks she was talking about ships in Russian ports:
https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/-if-freedom-has-a-name-its-name-is-ukraine-eu-commission-chief/2543751
L. Coyote
(51,129 posts)DallasNE
(7,392 posts)Where is this blockade by Russia being imposed? If it is the passageway between Crimea and Russia it is one thing but if it is at Bosporus that is a whole another thing because that is an act of war against Turkey, a NATO country. I suspect it is the former and not the latter.
Also, I would suspect that Ukraine plants mostly winter wheat which would have been planted last fall but if the war is still going on come June, then the harvest will be impacted in a major way.
muriel_volestrangler
(101,150 posts)From last week:
He added that the export activity on the Russian side is "very limited."
Immerz's assessment was backed up by the Panamanian Maritime Authority, who said on Wednesday that the Russian Navy was preventing 200-300 ships from leaving the Black Sea most of them were carrying grain. Other reports suggest around 100 vessels are blocked.
Noriel Arauz, the administrator for the authority, said three Panamanian-flagged ships have come under Russian fire since the invasion of Ukraine started. One of the ships sank and two others were damaged, while no one was injured.
British newspaper The Guardian reported that several other ships have been struck since the invasion began on February 24, including from Bangladesh and Estonia, which killed one person.
Russia blames the stoppage on the high risk of mines, which it said had been laid by the Ukrainian Navy.
https://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-war-russia-blocks-ships-carrying-grain-exports/a-61165985
TomSlick
(11,033 posts)Why is this any different - assuming Turkey would allow US warships to pass the Bosporus?
paleotn
(17,778 posts)Warpy
(110,903 posts)Winter wheat, the kind for bread, was planted last fall and won't be harvested until late summer. If it's an illegal blockade of Russian wheat contracted to the rest of the world, it's self defeating since it reflects some of the little money that is being allowed to change hands with Russia. They're not blockading anything out of Ukraine, they're too busy to ship.
Odd story, and if the grain is meant for the African continent or the Middle East, it seems a little bizarre for Putin to want to starve some of the few friends he has left.
ffr
(22,645 posts)keeps the land, rich for farming and bio-fuel energy production.
Jetheels
(991 posts)GB_RN
(2,267 posts)I wonder if we could sneak in a sub or two and fire a few torpedoes into Putin's crappy navy ships. Not like they'd ever "know" where they came from. Yeah, they could make accusations, but unless our subs were actively spotted and positively identified in the process, it would just be conjecture on their part.
Yes, this is wishful thinking, so don't go jumping me, please.
lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)oldsoftie
(12,410 posts)I know it only happens in movies, but a scuba team with some C4 would be fantastic
LiberalFighter
(50,496 posts)DENVERPOPS
(8,678 posts)with every day that passes, Putin gets more and more paranoid about just that thing happening.
And he should. I think more and more of his Military Leaders are getting frustrated with him holding the world hostage with his ability to use his chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons anywhere in the world.... And possibly destroy all of mankind.
IronLionZion
(45,256 posts)Mariupol, Kherson, and Odessa are where ships would leave from.
ancianita
(35,812 posts)DENVERPOPS
(8,678 posts)were close to them getting nailed for crimes against humanity by the Hague, when Trump suddenly pulled the U.S. military out of Syria.
The UN had completed it's investigation and they had an ABUNDANCE of proof that Putin supplied the chemical bombs that Assad used on his own citizens in Northern Syria......Putin helped put Assad in power.....yet another nation under Putin's power and control.
And you wonder if Putin would use Chemical bombs on cities in the Ukraine, or elsewhere??????????
Why do you suppose Putin has portable crematoriums mixed in with his Military vehicles. To destroy the evidence......
In so many ways, Putin is similar or worse than Hitler. And to think that Trump and the entire Republican Party worship and love Putin....
ancianita
(35,812 posts)They're part of the dictator network that the Koch-Mercer-DeVos crowd want the U.S. to ally with, since they all buy into the shift toward corporate (eventually AI) control, and away from human control.
Just to add a bit... when Trump suddenly pulled out US troops in Syria, besides giving ISIS a new shot at power, this shit CiC left every single bit of military equipment and weaponry at the 19 military bases -- 2 of them airbases -- he abandoned for Putin to help himself to.
Not one corporate owned press or other media raised any serious questions about his costly withdrawal for the West, and his favor to Putin and Assad (he wasn't holding predictably scheduled press conferences); a think tank or two criticized him but nothing got traction as a news issue; instead, the press chose feel-good, Trump rallies of bring-the-boyz-home-peace-in-our-time cheerleading.
DENVERPOPS
(8,678 posts)it was simple.....Putin.....Assad.....Russian Provided Poisonous Chemical bombs...... dropped on Syrian citizens eliminating entire towns with excruciating deaths from the chemicals.......Men, Women, Children......
I saw pictures of the citizens and pictures of the casings of Russian Bombs Assad dropped. I saw the chemical analysis of the swabs the inspectors took from inside the shell casing fragments that were remaining......
My information says the UN investigators who had finished their investigation and documented the above were in the process of packing their personal stuff an equipment, and were ready to return to the U.N./Hague and they quite literally, the on the ground Syrian investigators had to run for their lives along with the U.S. Soldiers that Trump pulled out to help Putin/Assad from being charged in a world tribunal for Crimes against Humanity. Putin moved into Syria immediately with No US military, and assisted Assad as Chief Syria Tyrant, and directed Assad on everything in turn for his help.....
ancianita
(35,812 posts)Your information is what Putin had, too, and Trump's rush to pull US troops out was at Putin's direction, knowing he had to squash the chemical warfare evidence that was found.
If there are communications between the two, and knowing the investigators were run out, then the Hague could name at least two, maybe three conspiring international criminals.
flying_wahini
(6,527 posts)Why Putin is not letting go of the wheat shipments. This is about to get ugly.
[link:https://vm.tiktok.com/ZTd5xUXaa/|
DENVERPOPS
(8,678 posts)All because of the egomaniacal Psychopaths loose in society................
ancianita
(35,812 posts)lagomorph777
(30,613 posts)Or give the Ukrainians what they need to do the job for us, if we are too cowardly to do it ourselves.
Response to lagomorph777 (Reply #28)
ancianita This message was self-deleted by its author.
ancianita
(35,812 posts)Last edited Thu Mar 24, 2022, 07:30 PM - Edit history (1)
It's not as if defending against Russia's blockade is solely the US's responsibility. The US and other navies often conduct "freedom of navigation" monitoring on all the oceans and seas.
Not for nothing, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey have navies, with at least 23 frigates, 23 corvettes and at least 15 submarines.
It looks like, since 2014, Russia has justified its aggressions on the Black Sea by claiming the US and Ukraine provocation.
Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Comer, a spokesman for U.S. Sixth Fleet, would not comment on the incident. Regarding the rules and norms of warships sailing in the Black Sea, Comer said in an email that the U.S. Navy always operates in accordance with international law and customs and expects others to operate in the same manner.
The incident happened just days before the start of the annual Sea Breeze 2021 maritime exercise in the Black Sea, co-hosted by the United States and Ukraine. The exercise is meant to improve interoperability and capability among the 32 participating countries, including several Black Sea states, according to a Navy statement. Its also about deterrence [US Army General Ben] Hodges
The whole point is to not only improve capability but to demonstrate that the Black Sea is international water. It is not Russia's lake, its nobody's lake, it's international water. But you have to enforce that, he said.
Russia will most likely send vessels and aircraft to approach or shadow the exercising forces, Hodges said, but he does not expect them to fire warning shots because there will be European nations participating that they would rather not antagonize.
Yet Wednesdays incident might not be the end of the summers aggressive Russian behavior. The troops, ships, and equipment that they had near the Ukrainian border in April are still in the region, Hodges said, and they may be look for an opening to provoke Ukraine.
I think that their reaction yesterday demonstrates a willingness to escalate more quickly than is necessary, he said. The Russians will stop only when they are stopped They only respect strength and they despise weakness.
https://www.defenseone.com/threats/2021/06/black-sea-incident-shows-russias-determination-claim-waters-illegally/174959/