A senior U.S. Senator says the U.S. should send part of its Navy to the Black Sea to ensure freedom of navigation for Ukraine grain shipments, now threatened by Russia since it pulled out of the Black Sea grain deal.
Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says the U.S. should deal with Russia’s attack on world grain supplies from Ukraine, directly. He says, “Send part of the U.S. Navy to protect grain shipments leaving Ukraine.”
The State Department has repeatedly condemned Russia for using food as a “weapon of war.” But President Biden has taken a cautious approach to U.S. involvement in Ukraine to avoid a direct conflict with Russia.
Grassley is less concerned about involving the U.S. Navy, “It would just make sure that freedom of the seas international law, that’s been international law for centuries, it would make sure that free passage, is respected.”
Separately, the Senate passed overwhelmingly a rider to the annual national defense bill to step up review of U.S. farmland buys by foreign adversaries, Russia, China, Iran and North Korea. Grassley, “It would limit the amount of farmland that one individual can buy. It’s very similar to my bill to add, and it would also add the U.S. Department of Agriculture to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States.”
‘CFIUS’ is the inter-agency panel that reviews the national security impacts of foreign investments in the US, an issue of heightened focus as Russia attacks global grain supplies in Ukraine while China has bought farmland near U.S. military sites.