Posted on 16 February 2022
The ties between the conflict in Ukraine and the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region are complex. Regional states have a direct interest in preventing escalation and in minimising its consequences as quickly as possible.
“There are three key areas where the MENA region will be affected by a large-scale confrontation between Russia and Ukraine: energy, due to expected interruptions of global energy flows; agriculture, because of possible disruptions of agricultural trade and grain production in the Black Sea basin; and refugees, as yet another humanitarian crisis would stress an already under-funded and over-extended global aid system,” writes Christian-Dan Tataru at the Middle East Institute, an independent think tank.