“His goal is to use famine to make people flee.” Kidnapping of Ukrainian children – this is how Putin must pay

Mrs Strack-Zimmermann, what danger does the abandoned grain deal pose?
Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann: Putin uses hunger as a weapon. Worldwide, 400 million people depend on food from Ukraine. That can hardly be surpassed in disgust and also a plea for the war crimes tribunal in The Hague. He makes the poorest hostages of his morbid imperialist policies. His goal is to use the famine to make people flee and thus put pressure on Europe in particular.

Does Putin want to starve Europe now?
He can’t. It should become clearer to him every day that the attack on Ukraine was a blatant strategic and military misjudgment — so much so that his own seat in the Kremlin was reeling. That’s why he pulls out all the inhuman registers. Incidentally, only about 4.5 percent of the grain imported into Germany comes from the Ukraine.

So who is most affected?
Ukraine is and has been the breadbasket of Europe for centuries. Due to the fertile soil, it produces far above its own needs and thus covers most of the grain needs of other countries outside Europe, such as Libya, Tunisia, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Egypt and Bangladesh.

The first agreement was also negotiated by the Turkish president. So is Putin also distanced himself from Erdoğan with the current stop?
Probably because Putin’s behavior is usually very simple. President Erdoğan has given the green light to Sweden’s entry into NATO and allowed the defenders of Ukraine’s Azov Stal to return home. With this, Erdoğan clearly distances himself from him.

Are we still too dependent on Russia?
We freed ourselves from our energy dependence in no time. Putin had not expected that either.

When do you expect Russia to be completely isolated from Europe? Or is that an illusion?
Russia is already isolated. This becomes clearer with every inhuman action. Perhaps those countries that still believe that Putin means well to them are beginning to realize this. It is an illusion to believe that there are alternatives to beating Russia or that Putin will ever be willing to talk. Such a thing will not happen. Unless, behind Putin, there already exists an alternative unknown to us, which finally puts an end to this misery without loss of face and returns Russia to a foreign policy guided by values.

What’s next?
Whichever way you look at it, Ukraine must successfully defend against Putin’s relentless onslaught and win this war. Only then will this terror come to an end and the world will no longer be Putin’s hostage.