The war in Ukraine has lasted a hundred days and the general feeling is that there are still many more days before a definitive peace is reached. The conflict is proving to be a catastrophe for everyone, both for Russia, which is very far from achieving its objectives, and for Ukraine, which is resisting better than expected, but at the cost of death, exodus and destruction of the country.
Faced with a situation of stagnation, which can prolong the war for a long time, both parties in the fight resort to the battle of the story to try to impose their version of the events. And, at this point, the EU leaders are showing their helplessness by the backlash caused by their harsh sanctions against Russia. Thus, many countries in the world, especially in Africa, Asia and South America, believe that the food crisis that is looming as a result of the impossibility of importing cereals from the war zone is caused by these sanctions. EU leaders accuse Russian propaganda of intoxicating public opinion in these countries and plan to counter it with their own arguments. But they will not have it easy.
Food shortages and the supply difficulties of basic products that are approaching, with the consequent impact on inflation, can generate a crisis that is impossible to predict today. And most of the affected countries are not governed by democracies like the European ones, but by governments that will put the solution to the food crisis before any other consideration of a humanitarian nature. Therefore, the West must be very careful so that its policy of sanctions against Russia does not end up affecting it like a boomerang, just as it has already become clear that the EU will suffer from restrictions on gas and other supplies as a result of the veto to Russian products.
Brussels is right to prepare its own strategy, since in the EU or the United States it is very clear that it is on the good side of history, but it is not an opinion shared throughout the world. Many countries may agree to condemn the Russian invasion, but if the sanctions affect their economy, realpolitik will prevail.
