ALBAWABA – Russia will be replacing Ukrainian grain exports to Africa, President Vladimir Putin said on Monday, according to an official statement, after Moscow exited the Black Sea Grain Initiative, also known as the Ukraine grain deal.
"Russia will continue its energetic efforts to provide supplies of grain, food products, fertilisers and other goods to Africa," Putin said in a statement published on the Kremlin's website.
"I want to give assurances that our country is capable of replacing the Ukrainian grain both on a commercial and free-of-charge basis," he reaffirmed.
Moscow's military operation blocked Ukraine's Black Sea ports with warships until a deal brokered by the United Nations (UN) and Turkey, signed July 2022, allowed the passage of critical grain shipments.
Earlier this month Russia exited the deal after complaining that related agreements under the deal, allowing the export of Russian food and fertilisers had not been honoured.
Later on, Moscow said it would consider cargo ships travelling to Ukraine through the Black Sea potential military targets.
The African Union expressed "regret" over Moscow's decision to end the grain export deal.
Later this week, Russia will host the second Russia-Africa Summit and Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum, according to the Kremlin.
Humanitarian groups say Africa is heavily reliant on grain from Russia and Ukraine.
The grain deal had enabled the export of more than 32 million tonnes of Ukrainian grain over the last year, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
