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Sanctions broke all logistics corridors for trade
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Western sanctions are forcing Russia to look for new logistics corridors, Russian transport minister says
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Moscow is reportedly eyeing other trade routes such as the International North-South Transport corridor linking India with Central Asia, Russia and Europe via Iran
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Russia and the US are blaming each other for the worsening global food situation
Sanctions broke all logistics corridors for trade, according to Russia’s Transportation Minister Vitaly Savelyev on Saturday (May 21), Russia’s state news agency TASS reported.
“The sanctions that have been imposed on the Russian Federation today have practically broken all logistics [corridors] in our country. And we are forced to look for new logistics corridors together,” Savelyev said during a visit to Russia’s Astrakhan region.
He said Moscow is looking at capitalizing on alternative trade routes such as the International North-South Transport corridor, which is a transit route linking India with Central Asian countries, Russia and Europe through Iran, according to TASS.
At the United Nations Security Council last Thursday, the US and Russia blamed each other for the worsening global food situation arising from the war in Ukraine, the Agence France-Presse reported.
AFP said Washington urged Moscow to allow exports of Ukrainian grain held up in Black Sea ports. Ukraine is one of the world’s top producers of wheat.
“Stop blocking the ports in the Black Sea. Allow for the free flow of ships and trains and trucks carrying food out of Ukraine,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a Security Council meeting called by the US.
“Stop threatening to withhold food and fertilizer exports from countries that criticize your war of aggression…The food supply for millions of Ukrainians and millions more around the world has quite literally been held hostage by the Russian military,” Blinken added.
Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia countered by saying his country is being blamed for all of the world’s woes.
Nebenzia said the global food crisis had been caused by an inflationary spiral due to rising costs of insurance, logistical snarls, and speculation on Western markets. He also blamed Ukraine for allegedly placing mines along the Black Sea coast.
He accused Ukraine of not wanting to cooperate with shipping companies to let go of dozens of foreign freighters blocked in port and denounced Western sanctions against Russia, saying they are worsening food insecurity around the world.
Blinken countered that “sanctions aren’t preventing Russia from exporting food and fertilizer…The decision to weaponize food is Moscow’s and Moscow’s alone.”
