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US quietly urges more use of Russia fertilizer to ease food crisis

bloomberg.com

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Re: US quietly urges more use of Russia fertilizer to ease food crisis

#131

Post by AzzieElbab »

nemo44x wrote: post #67
yks wrote: post #29

The West could've ended this war by now if they just went all in on sending howitzers, MLRS and other heavy equipment into Ukraine but they keep slow dripping it, or just doing nothing like Germany. The most powerful societies in the world history just twiddle their thumbs while negative consequences keep mounting.

You're literally asking for more death and destruction. Just think of what you're saying. Russia wins this war no matter what and the pointless cheerleading from the media and some politicians has been nothing but disposing of Ukrainian lives for the sole purpose of getting some type of bizarre revenge on Russia who they believe got Trump elected, or something. Sending more and more weapons only prolongs it and adds…

I am sure Ukrainians feel very sorry about inconveniencing Europeans but apparently they have decided to fight regardless of whether the West sends them weapons or not. At this point the West can watch them die or help them fight.

Re: US quietly urges more use of Russia fertilizer to ease food crisis

#133

Post by labrador »

dxhdr wrote: post #62

Meanwhile RUB to USD is at its highest in nearly 5 years. Cutting Russia off from SWIFT has only strengthened their ties to India and China. Russia is still invading Ukraine, and now we're dealing with soaring food and energy prices at home. At some point you have to consider whether this level of diplomatic incompetence is intentional.

> At some point you have to consider whether this level of diplomatic incompetence is intentional

What would you suggest as an alternative? Continue doing business as usual as if they're not murdering women and children?

Re: US quietly urges more use of Russia fertilizer to ease food crisis

#134

Post by jimbob45 »

nostromo wrote: post #108
mc32 wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know what it is, but it seems something is not right. On the one hand the US is asking the EU and allies to stop buying oil and whatever from Russia. A few large retailers pulled out of the Russian market due to perceived pressure to do so. We tell India (traditional non-aligned country) not to buy from Russia, we chastised Brazil for buying fertilizer from Russia (despite our objections), we tighten our own…

It's political. (I don't mean that as a negative, just reality.) The US is coming up on an election. The party in power is extremely unpopular right now, and about to get walloped according to polls. Polling shows that inflation is a big driver for their unpopularity. So they're trying to square two semi-incompatible positions: support Ukraine via sanctions and fight inflation too.

>The party in power is...about to get walloped according to polls.

I think this is the most overblown talking point right now. In the most favorable wet dream scenario for Republicans where every tossup goes their way[0], they're still only going to hold a 56-44 Senate lead over the Democrats. That's not filibuster-proof and certainly isn't the doomsday scenario that everyone keeps predicting. Keep in mind that Republican primaries have already screwed a lot of those races too. Herschel Walker, a man with a documented history of DV and a noted evolution-denier, will not be winning over Raphael Warnock no matter what the polls say.

[0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_United_States_Senate_elec...

Re: US quietly urges more use of Russia fertilizer to ease food crisis

#135

Post by cpursley »

peter422 wrote: post #121
cpursley wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Y'all need to be realistic about the energy situation or you'll have bigger problems than Russia.

Well why stop at Ukraine? Why not let Russia have all of Europe is everybody is so dependent on them for energy?

Article 5: https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_110496.htm

Re: US quietly urges more use of Russia fertilizer to ease food crisis

#136

Post by spamizbad »

nemo44x wrote: post #67
yks wrote: post #29

The West could've ended this war by now if they just went all in on sending howitzers, MLRS and other heavy equipment into Ukraine but they keep slow dripping it, or just doing nothing like Germany. The most powerful societies in the world history just twiddle their thumbs while negative consequences keep mounting.

You're literally asking for more death and destruction. Just think of what you're saying. Russia wins this war no matter what and the pointless cheerleading from the media and some politicians has been nothing but disposing of Ukrainian lives for the sole purpose of getting some type of bizarre revenge on Russia who they believe got Trump elected, or something. Sending more and more weapons only prolongs it and adds…

Russia could stop the bloodshed today by simply withdrawing their forces from the region. The LNR/DNR forces would surrender (they are reliant on Russia's support) and peace and stability could be achieved rapidly. The power is in their hands.

It's important to remember that this war has really been going on since 2014. Eastern rebel forces were starting to crumble until Russia began offering direct military assistance (Not just material but also boots-on-the-ground. Ukraine captured VDV and Spetsnaz POWs and would regularly exchange Russian troops with the DNR/LPR for POW swaps).

Edit: One of the big lessons Europe learned during the first half of the 20th century is that nationalist/ethnic conquests over land and border disputes makes everyone worse-off (World War I), and such acts should be powerfully deterred - through force, because capitulation doesn't work (World War II).

It seems people are forgetting these lessons.

Re: US quietly urges more use of Russia fertilizer to ease food crisis

#137

Post by 7speter »

tut-urut-utut wrote: post #9
nathanaldensr wrote: post #2

So "quiet" that Bloomberg's reporting on it? If you're a farmer, you're going to buy fertilizer from wherever and whomever unless prevented legally from doing so--and I, as a citizen of the US dependent on others growing this food on behalf of me, appreciate it.

And I, as an European, hate EU government for taking a self destructive way of introducing various sanctions that affect lives of the EU citizens in a very negative ways, without doing anything to help their proclaimed goals. At this point I am not sure if they are stupid, evil, corrupt or they just despise and hate their citizens. Or maybe all of that. You Americans are least have a pragmatic government that at leas…

You, as a European, must know that this problem has been brewing for years, since the Germans decided to turn off their nuclear plants and use Russian natural gas instead,right? Right!?

Oh and, the US didn’t mandate Germany to do this, its voters did.

Re: US quietly urges more use of Russia fertilizer to ease food crisis

#138

Post by dmurray »

legitster wrote: post #26

1/5 of raw fertilizer materials come from Russia! Is there a reason Russia is so prolific a source of fertilizer? I assume it's a legacy of Soviet Union attitudes towards raw material production.

It's a huge country in terms of land area. 1/5 is only a bit above the odds if you predict potash and phosphate deposits are evenly distributed across the world.

Re: US quietly urges more use of Russia fertilizer to ease food crisis

#139

Post by realcertify »

dxhdr wrote: post #62

Meanwhile RUB to USD is at its highest in nearly 5 years. Cutting Russia off from SWIFT has only strengthened their ties to India and China. Russia is still invading Ukraine, and now we're dealing with soaring food and energy prices at home. At some point you have to consider whether this level of diplomatic incompetence is intentional.

Absolutely agree. Moreover, it's the diplomatic incompetence on both sides that led to this war, which in my opinion could be easily avoided.

Re: US quietly urges more use of Russia fertilizer to ease food crisis

#140

Post by bsedlm »

rich_sasha wrote: post #127
dxhdr wrote: post #62

Meanwhile RUB to USD is at its highest in nearly 5 years. Cutting Russia off from SWIFT has only strengthened their ties to India and China. Russia is still invading Ukraine, and now we're dealing with soaring food and energy prices at home. At some point you have to consider whether this level of diplomatic incompetence is intentional.

Since RUB exchange is so constrained, its "market rate" is also meaningless. I too can issue a currency, set its value at 1,000,000 USD per unit and declare monopoly in trading it.

but will you be able to sell fuel and fertilizer?
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