Dmitry Medvedev, a senior Russian security official who previously served as the nation's president, is warning that Russia might limit its vital food exports exclusively to countries that it considers "friendly."
As it faces continued aggression from the West in the form of sanctions, Russia is responding with a reminder to NATO that it produces many things that the West needs, which Western leaders seem to have forgotten.
Russia's first priority is taking care of its own people – what a concept and a stark contrast to United States leaders, which take care of everyone else except actual Americans. After that, whatever Russia has left over will be exported to its friends and allies.
Cutting off North America and the European Union from agricultural inputs, Medvedev said in a Telegram post, is a useful and effective way to retaliate against all of the Western aggression against Russia.
"It so happened that the food security of many countries depends on our supplies," the Russian official wrote. "It turns out that our food is our quiet weapon. Quiet but ominous."
"The priority in food supplies is our domestic market. And price control. We will supply food and crops only to our friends (fortunately, we have a lot of them, and they are not at all in Europe and not in North America). We will sell both for rubles and for their national currency in agreed proportions."
Putin isn't bluffing: the West will pay
Medvedev went on to reiterate that Russia will not be supplying agricultural or any other products to its enemies, nor will Russia buy anything from its enemies – "although we haven't bought anything since 2014," Medvedev added.
"... the list of products prohibited for import can be further expanded," he went on to state about how Russia has no problem cutting off ties from the West even further.
Medvedev's statements come after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia will no longer deliver natural gas or any other fossil fuels to countries that try to pay in anything other than rubles.
Since Russia has no use for dollars or euros, and faces escalating sanctions, it is in the country's best interests to use its own currency to protect its own economy and people from ongoing Western aggression.
The Russian government has also reportedly placed new limits on sunflower oil exports, as well as banned the export of sunflower seeds and rapeseed (similar to canola).
Even before the ban, countries that rely on these sunflower and rapeseed exports were already feeling the pinch. Panic buying ensued in Germany, which relies heavily on Russian imports along with Belgium.
"For me, it's not whether we are moving into a global food crisis – it's how large the crisis will be," said Svein Tore Holsether, the head of Yara International, a company that specializes in fertilizer.
"Half the world's population gets food as a result of fertilisers ... and if that's removed from the field for some crops, [the yield] will drop by 50 per cent."
Another expert from the United Nations warned that Europe especially will soon face "hell on earth" migration flows if it does not act soon. A food shortage in the Global South as a result of all this chaos will likely trigger another migrant crisis, the likes of which has never before been seen.
"If you think we've got hell on earth now, you just get ready," warned David Beasley, a former Republican governor of South Carolina.
"If we neglect northern Africa, northern Africa's coming to Europe. If we neglect the Middle East, [the] Middle East is coming to Europe."
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