Ukraine has begun using weapons, banned by more than 120 countries, in ‘last week or so’, White House spokesman says
Moscow likely views the Black Sea grain deal, from which it withdrew this week to international condemnation, as “one of its few remaining avenues of leverage against the west” and pulled out in order to secure concessions, the Institute for the Study of War has said in latest assessment of the war in Ukraine.
The Kremlin now appears to be attempting to create a sense of urgency around its return to the Black Sea Grain Initiative by conducting intensifying strikes against Ukrainian port and grain infrastructure and threatening to strike civilian ships in the Black Sea.
Ukraine harvests most of it grain between July and August, and Russia’s strikes on Ukrainian port and agricultural infrastructure can further complicate Ukraine’s ability to free up space for newly harvested grains.
This attempt to achieve economic concessions from the West may undermine the Kremlin’s international outreach efforts by threatening the food supplies of several countries that are the intended targets of the Kremlin’s outreach.
Russian strikes against Ukrainian port and grain infrastructure and naval posturing also continue to illustrate that the Kremlin is willing to use naval and precision strike assets to prioritize immediate economic concerns instead of operations in Ukraine that pursue the Kremlin‘s overall campaign objectives.
