Vladimir Putin promises free grain to African leaders despite Western sanctions

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday (July 27) told African leaders that he would gift them tens of thousands of tonnes of grain within months despite sanctions imposed by Western countries. Addressing a summit in St. Petersburg devoted to Russian-African ties, President Putin said Russia was expecting a record grain harvest and was ready to replace Ukrainian grain exports to Africa on both commercial and aid basis to honour what he said was Russia's role in global food security.

"We will be ready to provide Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic and Eritrea with 25-50,000 tonnes of free grain each in the next 3-4 months," Putin said, adding, Moscow would also provide free delivery of these products to consumers.

Poorest nations 'screwed over' by West: Putin

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During the summit, Putin said that more than 70 per cent of Ukrainian grain exported had gone to high or above-average-income countries, including the European Union (EU), and the poorest countries were "screwed over" and received less than 3% of the shipments.

The Russian president added that Western sanctions even prevented his administration from supplying free fertiliser to poor countries. "A paradoxical picture is emerging. On the one hand, Western countries are obstructing supplies of our grain and fertilisers, while on the other they hypocritically blame us for the current crisis situation on the world food market," Putin further said.

AU appeals for peaceful co-existence between Russia and Ukraine

African Union (AU) chairperson Azali Assoumani, who was present during the summit with Putin, appealed for peaceful co-existence between Russia and Ukraine (who are currently at war), by saying this would save the lives of those who depended on their food exports.

"I have no choice but to notice today that with the Russia-Ukraine crisis the future of this partnership will be under threat should the crisis persist. Therefore, we need to find a resolution to the crisis in order to try to save the thousands of people who depend on these imports," Assoumani said.

"Africa's economic food security will be particularly endangered since the continent is badly affected by the shock of food price increases provoked by the interruption to supplies. We appeal therefore to the stakeholders to find a middle ground to ensure the safe delivery of cereals and fertilisers from Ukraine and Russia towards our continent," he added.

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