Days before Russia invaded Ukraine, Moscow issued a series of maritime warnings about the virtual closure of parts of the Black Sea off the coast of Ukraine, one of the world's top grain and sunflower oil exporters..

Further Russian moves, including blockading or seizing Ukrainian ports with warships, destroying grain elevators and other agricultural infrastructure, seizing arable land, and even stealing Ukrainian wheat with further attempts to sell it abroad, were part of the geopolitical battle that the Kremlin is waging in parallel with open war.. The Wall Street Journal writes about this, citing Western and Ukrainian officials..

Russian invasion united Western allies in support of Ukraine. But Russia has used its heightened influence over food exports to divide the wider international community and increase pressure on countries in the Middle East, Africa and Asia.. Moscow is splitting the world in ways not seen since the Cold War. Western capitals say Kremlin aims to use food concerns as leverage to push for sanctions relief and truce talks. Also, the Russian side is trying to build influence on countries outside the West and destroy the main pillar of the Ukrainian economy..

“This is a classic case of using food as a weapon.. If they say: \? "

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For years, Vladimir Putin has used energy as a weapon. Oil and gas helped him regain the influence that was lost after the collapse of the USSR. Now food has replenished the Russian arsenal. Officials in Moscow openly boast about their growing influence in this area, even if they deny the use of new weapons against other countries.. Former Russian President and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said earlier this year that food is a silent and " Putin said that customers will receive their grain supplies, and Ukraine can freely export its products.

“No one is stopping them from clearing mines and allowing grain ships to leave these ports.. We guarantee their safety,” the Russian autocrat said during a meeting with Indonesian leader Joko Widodo on Thursday..

But US and Western officials say Russia continues to block Ukrainian ports. The Black Sea is teeming with Russian mines. And Moscow is trying to control the export of both Russian and Ukrainian grain.

“Russia is playing scary games even with its own food by imposing restrictions on its own exports, imposing quotas and deciding where and when food will be available based on its own political considerations,” US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said during a summit in Berlin held in.

US diplomats fear brutal Russian strategy is working. African and Middle Eastern leaders try to maintain close ties with Moscow. Thus, their position is now different from what they were at the beginning of the invasion.. Traditional markets for grain from the Black Sea region are North Africa and the Middle East. Ukrainian wheat crops typically go to Indonesia, Egypt, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Morocco, according to US Agriculture Department data.. None of these countries were among the 93 states that voted to exclude Russia from the UN Human Rights Council in April. The vote was a symbolic demonstration of the position on the Russian war against Ukraine.

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“They will most likely become dependent on Russia if they cannot receive supplies from Ukraine. After all, they seek to maintain political and social stability at home,” said former State Department food security official Caitlin Welsh..

A few days after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the head of the African Union, President of Senegal Macky Sall, called on Moscow to " But in May, Sall had already appealed to European officials, demanding that they not cut off Russian banks from the international SWIFT system.. Because it would " Similarly, the Arab League initially expressed concern about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.. But then in April, the Secretary General of the organization, Ahmed Abu Gheit, met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, and already in May he accused the West of putting pressure on the League countries in order to “encircle” Russia. Western diplomats say Moscow was able to pressure and force to vote against the resolutions of the UN General Assembly, or at least hold on.

In March, 141 countries supported a resolution condemning Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

And already in April, only 93 countries voted for a resolution to exclude Russia from the UN Human Rights Council.. This time, Egypt, Indonesia and other countries decided to hold on, while Algeria and Ethiopia voted against.

“Now the countries that can suffer more do not criticize Russia. If the Arab League and the African Union start attacking Moscow, it may change its policy,” said John Herbst, former US ambassador to Ukraine and Atlantic Council expert..