On Monday, Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia said that Moscow was approaching an agreement that would assure free grain to six African nations after the UN-brokered Black Sea grain agreement collapsed in July.
Since leaving the deal, which aimed to ensure safe grain exports through the Black Sea, Russia has been willing to ally with African worries about the effect of the deal’s collapse on food security.
In a press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan Putin said that we are close to completing deals with six African countries.
He added that Moscow would provide the food and bring out logistics free of cost, adding that supplies would start in the next couple of weeks.
Both Russia and Ukraine have applied strategies to ship grain outside the framework of the grain agreement, which the UN claimed was important to international food security.
Putin said Moscow was keen to return to the agreement as soon as restrictions on its own exports were raised. We will be ready to mull the prospect of revitalizing the grain agreement, he added.
Russian President said that and we will do it as soon as all the deals on raising restrictions on Russian agricultural exports are completely applied.
Moscow has condemned the agreement before, claiming the West is setting indirect restrictions on its grain and fertilizer exports by restricting its access to international payment systems and insurance.
Turkey wants Russia to return to the deal and use it as a basis for comprehensive peace talks.
