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Originally Posted by Firebot
Russia is running out of options for blackmail after their oil debacle that backfired pretty significantly... but grain exports is one that simply cannot be impeded due to world food supply implications and the one that Russia is not about to give up on.
They have already purposely attacked a grey area within hours of the joint Turkey / UN / Ukraine announcement and attacked ships involved with the grain deal (but not part of the convoy). Putin is clearly testing the waters and has announced the movement of ships as unacceptable.
NATO will get dragged into this eventually no matter how cautious it has been, it's just a matter of time.
Putin is goading a reaction to finally get his real NATO war, but one that he can claim was provoked by NATO itself and has already claimed that this route was used as part of 'terrorist strikes' on Crimea. Clear signs of desperation are emerging after the attack on Black Sea ships that was supposed to be well defended.
Still a lot must be said of Erdogan giving the middle finger to Putin. An enemy of an enemy is my friend has never been more true.
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Is anybody credible saying this right now? I'm still hoping NATO doesn't get dragged into this and I can't imagine for the life of me why Putin would want that. He can't handle Ukraine. He certainly - and obviously - can't handle NATO. Just wondering where you're getting this from.