Medvedev's comments:

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https://www.lokmattimes.com/international/russia-wont-export-food-to-the-detriment-of-its-own-market/ (I think reposted from RT, their site doesn't work on firefox atm)

Russia will not export food to the detriment of its own market, Deputy Chairman of Russias Security Council and former President Dmitry Medvedev said.

In a lengthy Telegram post, Medvedev commented on the recent statements by Western leaders about food security.

As Russia and Ukraine are major wheat suppliers, accounting for some 30 per cent of global exports, the prices have significantly grown since the launch of the Russian military offensive in Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions imposed on Moscow by the US, the EU, the UK and some other Western nations, RT reported.

On Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that fertilisers and food products from Russia should be available to the world markets without obstacles.

Medvedev agreed that without wheat and other food supplies from Russia, the importing countries would "have a very difficult time", especially, he noted, because without Russian fertilisers, "only juicy weeds [would] grow" on their fields, RT reported.

In Medvedev's opinion, the West is now "backing up" because "all these hellish sanctions are worthless when it comes to vital things", such as food or energy.

Sanctions interfere with everyone's desire to live a normal, prosperous life, the former Russian President argued.

The expansion of NATO and the "mess with the calculations of debts, payments and other things" have aggravated the situation, he said.

According to Medvedev, Russia is ready to fulfil all of its obligations, but it has the right to expect some assistance from its trading partners. Otherwise, he emphasised, there would be no logic to it.

"On the one hand, insane sanctions are being imposed on us, and on the other hand, [the West] is demanding food supplies," he said.

"It will not happen, we're not idiots," he said, adding that there would be no export deliveries to the detriment of the Russian market, RT reported.

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Seems fair comment to me, given the limitations of his role where looking after his country's economy & security takes precedence over shipping food to starving people around the world. Every other nation in the same position as Russia would be doing exactly the same, probably worse. They are totally embattled, fighting against countries that have declared their wish to grind Russia into the dust - why would they freely give away any leverage they had? The consequences could well be dire (though there are other factors combining to push up food prices) but he's correct that Russia is not the only guilty party here. As usual. How would it hurt the US and other western countries to drop their punitive sanctions? They're arguably being even more cynical because their intransigence is out of spite rather than defensive.

I see Blinken in the US has been making this same point about Russia 'using food as a weapon' and holding the world 'hostage' - https://www.dumptheguardian.com/world/2022/may/20/us-accuses-russia-of-weaponising-food-in-ukraine-crisis-and-holding-global-supplies-hostage Too bad Zizek sees fit to endorse this cynical messaging rather than expose the hypocrisy and mendacity of the ones making it. All the US wants is to find an excuse to send warships into the Black Sea, a severe escalation and highly likely to finish in a direct military conflict with Russia. All it would take would be one ship going down in 'mysterious' circumstances - maybe even due to an Ukrainian mine - the Russians get blamed Gulf of Tonkin style and hey presto, full on nuclear exchange. How is that supposed to ameliorate global food insecurity? Zizek is playing dumb, or is actually a complete imbecile if he doesn't realise that.

cheers,
I