by Peter Zeihan on July 18, 2023

Russia announced on Monday that the Black Sea grain deal will not be extended. This initiative has enabled Ukraine to export agricultural products through Russia’s blockade of the Black Sea; however, Ukrainian exports are only at a fraction of pre-war levels.

The termination of the grain deal should sound alarm bells for everyone. As one of the world’s largest grain exporters, Ukraine has played a vital role in feeding the world’s population. With exports already limited, the end of this deal will likely spark widespread shortages, price increases, and famine.

So why did Russia terminate the deal? Reports from the Kremlin state that not all conditions outlined in the deal had been met, so the agreement ceased to be valid. Admittedly, I’m a bit surprised that the intermittent coordination between Kyiv and Moscow lasted this long…and that’s before we even look at the Kerch Strait Bridge being attacked (again) on the eve of this deal’s expiration date.

Speaking of the recent attack, we’ll have an update on the Kerch Strait Bridge as soon as I can upload the video from the mountain tops here in Colorado.

To give you a refresher on the Black Sea Grain Deal and some context on how we got here, the video below contains my thoughts from August 2022 and March and June of 2023.

Please click below to watch video

YouTube Video Link: https://youtu.be/nPg7AdXSrbE