According to this article, the Russian naval blockade of Ukraine is having a major impact on global food supplies and prices.
Russian navy has been able to seal off other shipping traffic and all but halt Ukrainian grain exports
www.ft.com
Yes, it is. There are 20 million metric tonnes of grain in the Ukraine, not able to exit via the Black Sea. There are at least 20 Russian war ships in the Black Sea. In addition they have mined the sea.
The governor of the Bank of England this week warned of unprecedented mass world starvation related to this conflict. He also highlighted the role of this conflict in the aggressive world wide inflationary pressures. In addition to the grain problem, Ukraine is a major world wide supplier of fertilizer.
So at least in London there is now a conversation on how to open up the Black Sea and get agricultural product moving again. The first step is going to be to provide Ukraine with advanced lad to sea anti ship missiles and try and sink those Russian ships in the North Sea.
If this fails, I think the Royal Navy is prepared to go in and enter the Black Sea. Hopefully the US is also preparing for this eventuality.
The Russian Navy has to be removed from the Black Sea, so that it can be demined. Then ships can export grain again under naval escort.
On other matters Russia has now cut off Finland from natural gas, and more European countries are being cut off also.
Germany is today drawing up plans to ration natural gas, after Russian threats intensify to cut them off. The first consequence would see a massive fall in German industrial output especially in the auto sector.
The UK is going to provide military assistance to Moldova which Russia is now threatening.
This crisis is now at a tipping point, and direct confrontation between Russia and NATO is becoming more likely by the day.