Russia and the west compete to secure safe passage for Ukraine’s grain

Grain is loaded on a truck in Chernihiv, Ukraine. If none of the sea route options works the only alternative is to intensify the use of expensive alternative routes that take grain on trucks. Photograph: Edgar Su/Reuters

In a game of diplomatic cat and mouse, Russia and the west are coming up with similar if sometimes competing ideas for how Ukraine’s badly needed grain can be given safe passage through the Black Sea and on to the world markets. They are also competing to win the battle for world opinion if the plans collapse.

Both sides are busy diplomatically across Africa and the Middle East trying to portray their adversary as the culprit for spiralling food and fertiliser prices. Russia and Ukraine export more than a quarter of the world’s wheat, while Russia is the world’s top fertiliser exporter. The World Bank’s Fertiliser Price Index rose nearly 10% in the first quarter of 2022, to an all-time high in nominal terms.