Holodomor averted?

Putin with president of African Union
during earlier talks about grain exports

The recent UN-brokered agreement about grain exports from Ukraine is of course good for poor people in the Third World, dependent on said grain for their very lives. But if you read the fine print, it´s actually a success for Russia...

First, it´s obviously a success for the Russian side that they managed to blockade Ukraine from having access to the Black Sea. Thus, the Russians were in a strong bargaining position from the get go. They could also steal Ukrainian grain, and use the Russian-occupied Black Sea ports to export it. 

The Russians will be able to inspect Ukrainian ships returning to Ukraine to make sure that they don´t smuggle Western arms for the Ukrainian war effort. (Arms shipments can still reach Ukraine by land.) Also, the West had to lift a number of sanctions and allow the Russians themselves to officially export grain. It´s not clear from the news reports, but I assume this refers to Russian ports, not ports in the Russian-held parts of Ukraine. But what´s to stop Russia from using *those* ports, as well? Joe Biden´s pet kitten? 

Note also that the deal in all probability isn´t UN-brokered at all, but Turkish-brokered. Turkey, the second largest military power in NATO, is continuing its Machiavellian games in the region. It´s not at all clear to me whether the United States are *really* in on this, or not. Turkish leader Erdogan flexed his muscle when he threatened to stop Sweden´s and Finland´s NATO membership applications, and his Azeri allies recently signed a deal with the EU about increased oil deliveries. And then there´s the recent summit between Russia, Iran and Turkey.

Russia is probably using its worst troops in Ukraine, making their advancement relatively slow. But advancing they are. The Ukrainian counter-offensive we have been promised by the Twitterati for months haven´t materialized yet. The sanctions clearly aren´t working, while the Russians can counter-sanction ("blackmail") the EU. Supposed Western allies such as Turkey, India and the Gulf states don´t seem particularly eager to break off all relations with Moscow. 

I assume Putin is patiently waiting for the Western political and economic crises to take their toll. The end of the war is nowhere in sight, and I don´t think a "winner" can be confidently predicted yet, but it doesn´t look good for Ukraine (and its incompetent propagandists) at present. And I say that as a *supporter* of the Ukrainian struggle! 

No Clemenceau or Churchill has stepped forward, so far. Joe Biden and Klaus Schwab don´t count, I´m afraid.