Russian President Vladimir Putin affirmed Thursday that his country is able to replace Ukraine’s grain exports to Africa, stressing Moscow’s readiness to start supplying grain free of charge to six countries on the continent within three or four months.
In a speech during the opening of the 2nd Russia-Africa summit in St. Petersburg, in the presence of African leaders, Putin explained that the countries concerned in this matter are Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic and Eritrea, adding that each would receive between 25,000 and 50,000 tons.
The summit will be held over two days, with the participation of a number of leaders of African countries, and will witness the signing of 92 agreements and memorandums of understanding worth more than one trillion rubles. 569 meetings will be held between the participants as well.
On July 17, Russia withdrew from the agreement to export grain through the Black Sea, and refused to extend its implementation because of what it considered “failure to fulfill” obligations to remove obstacles to its exports of food and fertilizers.
Source: Qatar News Agency
