How Putins Black Sea food fight puts the world and your grocery bill at risk

The oil war in the Black Sea between Russia and Ukraine is turning into a food fight — with potentially disastrous implications.Moscow, fuming at strikes on its “shadow fleet” of sanctions-evading oil tankers, is refusing to halt attacks on peaceful food shipments in the Black Sea.That will mean famine in Africa, the Middle East and Asia, as well as higher US grocery bills in the coming months — unless Washington steps up pressure on the Kremlin.Russia and Ukraine feed the world: Together, they provide close to 30% of global wheat and barley exports.The catch? They typically send around 90% of that cargo through the Black Sea.As harvest season begins, Kyiv has offered a truce for food shipments if Moscow reciprocates.The risk is real: In 2022, the United Nations warned that up to 47 million people risked food scarcity or famine if Russia’s war with Ukraine derailed Black Sea grain exports.The start of the war contributed to record food prices — and an 11.4% spike in American grocery bills that year, the biggest annual rise since the Jimmy Carter era.While Chicago wheat traders have not yet hit the same panic button as in 2022, prices are again rising as supplies tighten — meaning Americans could face supermarket sticker shock right before the midterm elections.The White House should act now to prevent a looming calamity.When the United States, Turkey and the UN tried to secure safe passage for grain ships in the past, the Kremlin exploited the negotiations to demand sanctions relief.What’s new in 2026 is Ukraine’s “long-range sanctions” program, which targets Russia’s energy infrastructure — not only in the Black Sea, but in the Moscow and Tambov regions.Kremlin officials are seething at the damage.Citing Kyiv’s “brazen acts of terrorism” against its oil tankers, Moscow has refused a new grain-ship truce.More outlandish than the terrorism charge is the Russian Foreign Ministry’s false claim that Western sanctions are the impediment ...