Posted on June, 22, 2023 at 06:06 am
Russian President Vladimir Putin and visiting African leaders discussed the importance of Russian grain supplies to the continent at weekend talks in St Petersburg, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.
“The importance of grain deliveries was underlined, especially of Russian grain, to the African continent, to the poorest countries,” Peskov told reporters.
“The importance of continuing these deliveries was underlined.”
Russia’s highlighting of the issue of food supplies to Africa comes as it again threatens to walk away from the Black Sea grain deal when it expires on July 17.
Russia says the deal – first struck in July last year to allow Ukraine to resume grain shipments from its Black Sea ports – is not alleviating hunger in Africa in the way that was originally promised.
Putin told a delegation from seven African countries on Saturday that only a small fraction of the grain exported from Ukraine under the arrangement was going to poor countries on the continent.
He said this was an example of how “neo-colonial” Europeans and Americans were deceiving the international community and Africa. “They (the West) got used to lying to the whole world for centuries and they continue to do it today,” he said, according to a Kremlin transcript.
The United Nations says the deal has benefited poorer countries by helping to lower food prices globally. According to U.N. data, more than 31 million tonnes of grain have been exported under the pact, with 43% of that going to developing countries. Putin said only 976,000 tonnes had gone to poor African countries.
He and other Russian officials have repeatedly said that Russia is considering quitting the Black Sea deal because its own grain and fertiliser shipments still face obstacles. But Moscow has so far continued to agree to extensions, most recently on May 18.
Source: Hellenics Shipping News