"Ukraine – the situation": Doubts about the grain agreement: "Hunger as a strategy is part of Russian warfare"

Military expert Carlo Masala doubts the success of the agreement to export millions of tons of grain from Ukraine, which was due to be signed in Istanbul on Tuesday.

"Ukraine – the situation": Doubts about the grain agreement: "Hunger as a strategy is part of Russian warfare"

Military expert Carlo Masala doubts the success of the agreement to export millions of tons of grain from Ukraine, which was due to be signed in Istanbul on Tuesday. Masala says in the stern podcast "Ukraine - the situation" that it would be good news if the food blocked by the war could be brought to the countries of the Global South. However, there are doubts as to whether the Russian negotiators will not make new demands at the last minute. And the question remains: "How will the Russians behave if grain is actually exported?"

The politics professor at the Bundeswehr University in Munich compares the planned shipping routes with humanitarian corridors - which have not always been respected in the past. If the Ukrainians cleared the port of Odessa from mines, "that would of course be the gateway for the Black Sea Fleet to get closer to Odessa and bombard Odessa." It will only be seen in a few days whether the agreement will be successful. Masala does not see the talks between the warring parties as a possible prelude to more comprehensive negotiations. "I'm skeptical about that," he says. "I think you have to look at that separately."

dr Carlo Masala is Professor of International Politics at the Bundeswehr University in Munich.

According to Masala, the Russian leadership wants the grain deal to improve its image in countries that depend on supplies from Ukraine. "The Russians are doing this to polish their image in the Global South," he says. At the same time, however, he points out that agricultural facilities in Ukraine continue to be attacked and fields set on fire. "Hunger as a strategy is part of Russian warfare," he says.

Masala clearly criticizes the Russian approach in the dispute over gas supplies. In view of the threats, the Europeans should actually say: Hold on! After the fall of Mario Draghi's government, suddenly more was delivered to Italy than before. Hungary is trying to get its own agreements with Russia in Moscow. Nobody knows when and how much will be delivered. "This shivering and shaking weakens our own position," Masala says on the podcast. "Putin has an extremely powerful lever on this issue, which is making the cracks in European solidarity with Ukraine more and more apparent."