{"id":1990042,"date":"2023-08-03T17:18:01","date_gmt":"2023-08-03T21:18:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/russia-claims-right-to-attack-ukraines-grain-amid-debate-about-war-and-famine\/"},"modified":"2023-08-03T17:20:43","modified_gmt":"2023-08-03T21:20:43","slug":"russia-claims-right-to-attack-ukraines-grain-amid-debate-about-war-and-famine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/russia-claims-right-to-attack-ukraines-grain-amid-debate-about-war-and-famine\/","title":{"rendered":"Russia asserts right to target Ukraine&#8217;s grain amidst war and famine discourse."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Frussia-claims-right-to-attack-ukraines-grain-amid-debate-about-war-and-famine%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1990042&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><h2>Russia Considers Ukraine&#8217;s Grain Stockpiles as Legitimate Military Targets<\/h2>\n<p>In\u2064 a heated debate on the connection between war and\u2064 famine, a top Russian diplomat, Dmitry Polyanskiy, declared that Russia regards Ukraine&#8217;s grain stockpiles as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/uk-endorses-ukraines-right-to-attack-russian-territory-despite-us-anxiety\/\" title=\"UK supports Ukraine's right to attack Russian territory, despite US concerns.\">legitimate military targets<\/a> under international law. Polyanskiy made \u200bthis statement during a session at the\u200b United Nations Security Council.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201cThe\u2064 prohibitions on attacking\u200c or \u200cdestroying agricultural infrastructure do not apply if such infrastructure\u200d is used as sustenance for the \u2063members of the \u200barmed forces or in direct support of military action,\u201d\u200b Polyanskiy emphasized.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3>Russian Forces Bombard\u2062 Ukrainian\u200d Port Cities and Grain Stores<\/h3>\n<p>Since Russian President Vladimir Putin withdrew \u2064from an international deal allowing the export of Ukrainian grain, Russian forces\u2064 have launched a persistent bombardment on Ukrainian port cities and grain stores. This \u200caggressive \u200caction has\u200c raised \u2062concerns among Russia and Ukraine&#8217;s Western partners, as\u2064 the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/russia-claims-right-to-attack-ukraines-grain-amid-debate-about-war-and-famine\/\" title=\"Russia asserts right to target Ukraine's grain amidst war and famine discourse.\">soaring food prices put diplomatic pressure<\/a>\u200d on the governments involved.<\/p>\n<h3>Food Security and the United Nations Charter<\/h3>\n<p>Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed the Security Council, emphasizing the importance of strengthening food security to fulfill the vision of the United Nations Charter. He drew attention to a statue outside the UN building, depicting a figure symbolizing the biblical directive to &#8220;beat swords into plowshares.&#8221; Blinken invoked a moral imperative, urging nations to commit to not using their swords to destroy others&#8217; plows.<\/p>\n<p>By referencing the Book of Isaiah, which states, &#8220;They shall \u200bbeat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they \u200blearn war any more,&#8221; Blinken \u200caimed to highlight the contradiction between Russia&#8217;s actions and the principles represented by the statue. The statue was gifted to the United Nations by the USSR in 1959.<\/p>\n<h3>Russia&#8217;s Use of \u200cFood as a &#8220;Quiet \u2062Weapon&#8221;<\/h3>\n<p>Russia has employed a recurring strategy of using food as a &#8220;quiet weapon,&#8221; as described by \u200dKremlin Security Council chairman Dmitry Medvedev. This\u200b tactic has kept food security at the forefront of the international agenda throughout the full-scale invasion. Medvedev stated last year, &#8220;We will supply food and\u200c crops only to our\u200b friends.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>During the debate, Polyanskiy proudly announced\u2064 that Russia has decided to send &#8220;25 to 50,000 tons of grains free of charge&#8221; to a bloc of six African countries. These\u200d countries \u2063either have a security relationship \u200cwith Russia&#8217;s paramilitary Wagner Group, have expressed political support for Russia&#8217;s invasion of Ukraine, or sided with Russia in recent \u2064United Nations General Assembly votes\u200d on Ukraine-related resolutions.<\/p>\n<p>By framing their\u2063 actions as part of a mission to build a more equitable system of resource distribution, Russia aims to counter Western neo-colonialist accusations. They argue that developing states should not be dependent\u200d on politically-conditioned humanitarian aid, which they view as \u200da form of primitive blackmail.<\/p>\n<h3>African States&#8217; Response and the Black Sea Grain Initiative<\/h3>\n<p>Russia&#8217;s deployment of anti-colonialist rhetoric could potentially deter African states from criticizing Moscow&#8217;s decision to scuttle \u2063the Black Sea grain\u2062 initiative. Ambassador Harold Agyeman, who leads \u2064Ghana&#8217;s mission to the United Nations, expressed concern and disappointment over the initiative not being renewed. He suggested that renewing\u2063 the\u200d initiative, along with resolving challenges related to the export of \u2062Russian ammonia, agricultural products, and fertilizers, \u200bwould be \u2063a more sustainable approach to prevent spikes in \u2062<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/united-nations-global-food-prices-hit-10-year-high-in-october\/\" title=\"United Nations: Global Food Prices Hit 10-Year High in October\">global food prices<\/a> and strengthen global food\u2062 security.<\/p>\n<h3>Western Sanctions and Russia&#8217;s Justification<\/h3>\n<p>Russian officials argue that Western economic sanctions have hindered their agricultural exports, justifying their blockade\u200b of Ukrainian grain as \u2063a means to pressure\u2064 for an easing of these measures. Polyanskiy stated, &#8220;Until the illegitimate obstacles artificially \u2064created\u200c by\u200b the West affecting Russian economic operators&#8217; \u2064ability to supply agricultural products are eliminated, it will hardly be possible to restore\u200b the \u2062normal functioning of supply chains.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Secretary Blinken dismissed this\u2063 argument, clarifying that the United States has not sanctioned Russian food exports. He assured that \u2064the US \u2063has worked\u2062 with banks and shipping companies to facilitate the export of\u200b Russian food supplies. Blinken emphasized the importance of allowing everyone, including Russia, to freely and safely export \u2062their food products to benefit from lower prices.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, \u2062the debate\u2063 highlighted the complex relationship \u200bbetween war, famine, \u200cand international diplomacy, with Russia&#8217;s actions regarding Ukraine&#8217;s grain stockpiles raising significant concerns among the global community.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\">Click here<\/a> to read more from The Washington Examiner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Russia considers Ukraine&#8217;s grain reserves as valid military targets under international law, as stated by a Russian diplomat in a discussion on the connection between war and famine. According to them, attacking or destroying agricultural infrastructure is permissible if it supports armed forces or aids military operations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1990043,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1990042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1990042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1990042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1990042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1990043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1990042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1990042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1990042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}