Sounds like a new challenge on MasterChef It should be, but no; it’s about how tit-for-tat sanctions by the West and Russia over the latter’s Ukraine aggressions are taking on culinary proportions.

How is that? Poland, for example, has long been a supporter of Ukraine, since a free Ukraine would provide a geographic buffer between itself and occasionally-marauding Russia. So the Poles put their might behind sanctions imposed on Russia by the US and European Union after the Russia’s annexation of Crimea. But the question now arises, who is going to buy Poland’s $587-million apple crop?

Why’s that an issue? Because around half of Poland’s apple crop usually found its way to Russian grocery stores. But Russia is punishing Poland for its cheering for independence in Ukraine by banning imports of all Polish agricultural produce.

How has Poland responded? Not ones to be cowed down, the Poles are carrying on an enthusiastic social media campaign encouraging their countrymen that eating an apple a day can keep Putin away. This includes Poles posting selfies either biting into apples or drinking apple cider and restaurants offering entire meals that focus on apple-based dishes. The Poles are also looking for alternative markets as well. Ireland seems to have caught their fancy.

But doesn’t Russia miss the apples? The sanctions seem to have skewed Russian diets a bit, what with prices of fruits, vegetables, dairy and meat (much of which is imported) going up. So they’ve fallen back on an old Soviet-era staple called grechka, or buckwheat (a kind of cereal). Russians are simultaneously propping up national honour online posting interesting grechka recipes.

So the sanctions are reduced to social media campaigns? That’s the public face of the sanctions, but the economic sanctions seem to hitting Europe as adversely as they are Russia. Experts say if Europe withdraws its sanctions against Russia, the continent can just about manage to pull itself back to the growth path. Or else it will likely continue as is, not growing at all.

But aren’t sanctions a tool of foreign policy, not economics? Not if your own people are suffering because of it, like Poland’s farmers. The question now seems to be, can the EU really afford to impose sanctions against Russia?

So the West is presenting a fractured front? Yes, and that’s probably one of the reasons why the sanctions haven’t hit Russia as expected. For example, despite strong criticism, France is still determined to supply Russia with two warships, one of which is to be handed over in October, as part of a €1.2-billion deal signed three years ago.

Is Poland alone then? It has the support of the Baltic nations. Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia (with their Russian-speaking majorities) are wary of their former Soviet masters. They plan to increase defence spending and are ramping up security along borders. In Central Europe, however, commercial interests are trumping security concerns. Bulgaria, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia, although part of both EU and NATO, resent the military alliance’s growing presence in the region and want to continue trading with Russia as usual.

Even the US can’t completely sever ties with Russia. It needs the latter for negotiations with Iran and Syria. For now, the Poles will have to eat quite a lot of apples.

(A weekly column that helps you ask the right questions)

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