This scenario is exactly why the US government pays out obscene amounts of money for farm subsidies and crop insurance. One of the main reasons for subsidizing our entire system of agriculture is food security. While grains are traded on a global market, the US imports very little grain (and most of those imports come from Canada). The US is quite secure from an agriculture standpoint.
A lot of economists will actually point out that not only food security, but the massive amounts of food that we produce and export are one of the reasons we're the strongest economy in the history of the world.
Ukraine and Russia agreed to ceasefire passages for refugees today, so this could be part of that. I've also saw one Russian guy de-escalate the nuclear talk today after the US made its comments about postponing tactical missile tests, etc. yesterday. Its one of their main strategies. Escalate and then de-escalate.
Its not just Russian weaponry. India's relationship with Russia dates back to its own independence. When India became independent, its founders were hardcore socialists/borderline communists when it came to economic policy. Anyone who grew up in India until the 90s experienced a country with an economic system that wasn't that far off from the Soviet Union. India ostensibly remained neutral throughout the Cold War as a member of the non-aligned movement but functionally they had strong trade ties with the USSR beyond military systems. This was compounded by the fact that until recently, Pakistan was aligned with the United States so India's natural response was to get closer to the USSR. If you ask average Indians in the street, they'll still think very highly of Russia because of the USSR relationship. The US-Pakistan relationship caused Indians to turn toward the USSR (and later Russia) and that hasn't really changed. The interesting thing isn't India (their response is quite predictable). Rather, it is Pakistan which has now turned to Russia and China after the US has largely cut its military aid after the end of the war in Afghanistan.
Yup and this is really one of the primary differences between the US and China. China has huge food security issues. They don't have the arable land or crop yields to be agriculturally self-sustainable. The war in Ukraine and Russia will have have huge effects on the rest of the world. We're all talking about oil but 20% of grain comes from Russia and Ukraine.
ROFLing at Russian officials crying about getting canceled, like some kinda white snowflake AM radio hosts here. "Why does my behavior affect how people treat me?!?! WAAAA!" ... All fits together too well.
Brandon and his team of merry wokesters who are running the white house are apparently gearing up to send in the "A-team" to Europe to help with the Ukraine effort: White House discussing sending Harris to Warsaw, Bucharest The White House is actively discussing sending Vice President Harris to Warsaw, Poland, and Bucharest, Romania, in the coming days to show solidarity with Ukraine as it faces an escalating Russian invasion, sources familiar with the conversations tell The Hill. The discussions involve sending Harris to visit troops stationed in Romania and potentially to the border with Ukraine, where a refugee crisis has seen more than 1 million people flee that country since the Russian attack. The trip could happen in the coming weeks, one source said, adding that there is no active dialogue about sending President Biden to the region. “A presidential visit is a heavier logistical lift,” the source said. “The vice president has a smaller footprint and is historically more nimble.” Despite all of the breathless hysteria, this is apparently not important enough for Joe Biden to go. So off the bench she comes, Kamala Harris, rides to the rescue. Go figure. {Insert facepalm here}
They would have sent Trump but he has bone spurs and his vajayjay is still sore from losing to Biden.
A few paragraphs are below. Link for the rest. China Declared Its Russia Friendship Had ‘No Limits.’ It’s Having Second Thoughts. - WSJ Russia’s subsequent invasion of its neighbor is forcing Beijing into adjusting its foreign policy in a way that risks damaging relations with the U.S.-led West and undoing years of efforts to paint itself as a responsible world leader. In Beijing, the ripple effects of a move that may cost China dearly are now sinking in, say the officials and advisers. Some officials say they are fearful of the consequences of getting so close to Russia at the expense of other relationships—especially when Russian aggression against Ukraine is isolating Moscow in much of the world. ... In internal meetings over the past year, the officials and foreign-policy advisers say, Mr. Xi has emphasized the U.S. as the biggest threat to China’s interests, centering China’s foreign policy on aligning with Russia to confront Washington. It was Beijing that suggested including that the two countries’ friendship has “no limits”—wording read with apprehension in the West—according to the officials and advisers. The intention was less a declaration China would stand by Russia in case of war than a strong message to the U.S. about the resolve the two have in confronting what they see as increased American threats, the people said. Since the Russian troops marched into Ukraine on Feb. 24, China has been walking what many foreign-policy experts call a diplomatic tightrope. It is locked into having to help Russia and has little interest in seeing Moscow collapse economically, while it is trying to stick to its foreign-policy principles around sovereignty and attempting to prevent its relations with the U.S. and Europe from completely collapsing. Beijing has refrained from coming to Moscow’s aid in a significant way. China is taking steps to buy Russian farm and energy products. But it is complying with the more damaging financial sanctions the U.S. has imposed on Russia, for fear of losing access to the dollar-dominated global trading system, say some Chinese bankers. They say their default position is to comply with the sanctions unless higher-ups tell them otherwise. “The security of one country shouldn’t be achieved at the expense of the security of other countries,” Mr. Wang said to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba during the call, “and the regional security can’t be achieved by expanding military blocs.” Beijing’s most difficult contortions are on territorial sovereignty. China has built its foreign policy around the principle that a country’s territory is inviolable and its internal affairs should be free from interference by others. That notion forms the foundation of China’s argument that the rest of the world should stay out of its claims on Taiwan, since it regards the self-ruled island as a part of China.
As much as it pains me to say, CCP have a legitimate claim for Taiwan (and vice versa) while Russian Federation has no such casus belli. Validating Russians invasion means invalidating China’s.
reported on 3/3 1pm CST Ukraine, Russia Agree to Create Safe Corridor as Zelenskyy Asks Putin to Meet – NBC New York Russian and Ukrainian delegations convened near the border of Belarus Thursday for a second round of peace talks after initial discussions Monday failed to yield any significant breakthroughs. A member of Ukraine’s envoy said the parties have reached a tentative agreement to organize safe corridors for civilians to evacuate and for humanitarian supplies to be delivered. Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who took part in Thursday’s talks, said that Russia and Ukraine reached a preliminary understanding that cease-fires will be observed in areas where the safe corridors are established, but there appeared to be no progress in ending in the war.
