CAN PUTIN STARVE EUROPE?
Ukraine needs Europe and Europe needs fertilizer. It can be done.
As Putin and his circle know, the EU is the weakest link in the western alliance supporting Ukraine. The Russian leadership intends to break that link by imposing cold and hunger on the European people through deep cuts in Russian gas deliveries.
The cold will come this winter, as EU states impose gas rationing on their population. Most likely, Europeans can cope with this by turning down thermostats, heating fewer spaces, and wearing warmer clothes indoors.
There is enough food being grown and produced in Europe this year to meet immediate needs. Without effective adaptation, though, the spectre of hunger would appear next year, when there would not be enough affordable nitrogen fertilizer for European farmers, beginning with the first applications in the spring.