Moscow [Russia], July 28: Russian President Vladimir Putin has offered African countries to replace Ukrainian grain exports, which he has blocked since cancelling a UN-Turkey mediated agreement, with Russian grain for free.
"Russia remains a reliable supplier of food to Africa," Putin said in St Petersburg on Thursday at a second Africa summit. The meeting with African Union (AU) representatives was partly broadcast on state television.
Russia wants to provide some countries with 25,000 to 50,000 tonnes of grain for free in the next three to four months, Putin said. Zimbabwe, Mali, Burkina Faso, Somalia, Eritrea and the Central African Republic are to receive the grain.
He assured the African leaders that Russia would find ways to supply them with grain.
In the first half of the year, Russia had already exported 10 million tonnes of grain to the continent, and Russian-African trade had grown by 35 percent in that time frame, despite sanctions.Russia is also considered Africa's most important arms supplier.
AU Commission Chairman Moussa FakiMahamat lamented at the meeting that the war between Russia and Ukraine was in part exacerbating the food crisis. "Africa is suffering," he said, according to the Russian translation. The TV broadcast was cut short when Putin tried to respond. African Union Chair and Comoros President AzaliAssoumani called on Russia and Ukraine to end their war. Africa needs Russian and Ukrainian grain, he told a plenary session. The lives of many people depend on the supplies, he said. "It is important today to fight for a sustainable peace between Russia and Ukraine," he said.
Putin categorically rejected as "hypocritical" accusations by the West that Russia is now engaging in "hunger games" with its war against Ukraine and blockade of the country's grain shipments across the Black Sea.
Putin is demanding an easing of Western sanctions because he sees them as hindering the export of Russia's own grain and fertilizer.
He said more than 200,000 tons of fertilizer from Russia were stranded in European ports, which Moscow could also hand over in a humanitarian operation.
Source: Qatar Tribune