The Russian-Ukrainian war threatens the survival of hundreds of millions of individuals around the world as claimed by our editors Gino Lanzara (see article), Andrew Strong (see article) and by myself (see article). Evidently, we had good sources in writing it ... given that yesterday, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis, drawing his conclusions from a very serious speech, proposed a plan to address this crucial global emergency during talks in London with the Foreign Minister British, Liz Truss.
“Time is very very short. We are approaching a new harvest and there is no other practical way to export the grain other than through the Odessa port on the Black Sea. "he told the Guardian. “There is no way to store this grain and there is no other suitable alternative route. It is imperative to show vulnerable countries that we are prepared to take the necessary steps to feed the world ".
Britain immediately took action, arguing with allies about sending warships to the Black Sea to protect Ukrainian grain-carrying merchant ships. A "coalition of the willing" would aim to break the Russian blockade for a few weeks by providing a "corridor of protection" from Odessa across the Bosphorus for the precious grain.
London believes the time to avoid a world food crisis is running out and would like to do even more than the United States is about to send long-range missiles to eliminate the threat posed by Russian ships.
Landsbergis proposed that the coalition could include some NATO countries and other countries that depend on wheat. One of these could be Egypt, one of the most threatened and which recently rejected a shipment of grain plundered by the Russians in Ukraine.
Landsbergis also suggested that the naval escort operation should not be managed by NATO: its job would be to protect ships laden with grain as they headed across the Black Sea from Russian warships and submarines.
He told the Times: “What we have seen now is just the beginning. The worst is yet to come in the next five or seven weeks when the first harvest arrives " without which entire populations "In North Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia they will pay exorbitant prices for the wheat, corn and other commodities they need to put food on their table". Ukraine must be enabled to export 80 million tons of wheat this year and the only option is to do so through Odessa. It is appropriate to say: whatever it takes.
We also consider that a famine in Africa and Asia would bring tens of millions of refugees to Italian beaches between the end of 2022 and 2023, precisely what we had defined as one of Putin's weapons against the West.
As good Italians, we probably don't care now: aside from the immigration issue, perhaps we would do well to think about it since the pasta, pizza, bread and other baked goods we eat are mostly made with Ukrainian cereals. And that we also depend on Kiev for sunflower oil and many animal feeds. In short, the party is over: soon someone will ask us if we want to watch or ... earn a loaf by participating in the mission.
Photo: Royal Navy
