Russian state media has painted President Vladimir Putin’s visit to China this week as a symbolic triumph over the West by the Russian leader who they say enjoys global prestige and respect despite attempts to isolate him.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan will hold their first face-to-face meeting for the first time in a year on Monday in a bid to resolve the crisis over Russia’s exit from a deal guaranteeing Ukrainian grain exports and stave off a renewed global food crisis. The meeting, which was initially set to take place in August in Turkey, had been postponed several times and moved to Russia’s Black Sea resort city of Sochi to accommodate Putin, who has not traveled abroad since the International Criminal Court put out a warrant for his arrest.
Russia is doubling down in its efforts to block Ukrainian grain exports and maximize damage to Kyiv’s profits one week after it pulled out of a landmark grain deal securing Ukrainian grain exports. In addition to its systematic attacks on three Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea near Odesa in recent days, Moscow for the first time targeted Ukrainian terminals on the Danube River on Monday night. In hampering Ukraine's grain exports, Russia hopes to cut into Ukrainian budget revenues and significantly raise prices on the world market and reap the benefits for itself, independent experts told The Moscow Times.