Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was talking to his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, about Ukrainian grain going to “poor countries” rather than Europe.
“Apart from Turkey as a mediator, all grain leaving Ukraine does not go to poor countries, but to Europe,” Putin said.
Speaking during the parliamentary session of the VII Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok, the Russian president said, “Only two of the 87 ships went to developing countries. Sixty thousand tons of 2 million.”
“In this way it is necessary to think about how to limit the export destinations of grains and other foods. I will definitely talk about this with the President of Turkey[Recep Tayyip]Erdogan,” the Russian leader said.
On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the West of breaking the Istanbul International Agreement by blocking Russian grain and fertilizer exports across the Black Sea.
“Our Western counterparts have not done what we were promised by the UN Secretary General. [António Guterres]”, Lavrov said at a press conference.
The Russian minister accused Western countries of refusing to take steps to “remove logistical barriers that prevent free access to (Russian) grains and fertilizers on the world market.”
Lavrov stressed that Moscow was working with the UN to comply with agreements reached in Istanbul in July to move from the Ukrainian coast — blocked by the Russians to the Mediterranean Sea — after the February 24 invasion of Ukraine. Export of Ukrainian grain.
The deal, sealed with the mediation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, also includes the delivery of Russian grain and fertilizer through the Bosphorus Strait.
Several dozen ships with Ukrainian products left from the Black Sea ports of Odessa, Chornomorsk and Pivtenny.
Russia – which turned the Sea of Azov into an inland sea by taking the Ukrainian ports of Mariupol and Berdyansk – says its export capacity far exceeds Ukraine’s, making its supplies crucial to averting a global food crisis.
Some countries, especially African countries, have called for the lifting of sanctions affecting Russian grain exports.
The military offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine on February 24 has already displaced nearly 13 million people – more than six million internally displaced people and nearly seven million to neighboring countries – according to the latest UN data. , ranks this refugee crisis. Worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
The Russian invasion was generally condemned by the international community, which responded by sending arms to Ukraine and imposing sanctions on Russia in everything from banking to energy and sports.
The UN estimates that 5,587 civilians died and 7,890 were injured in the war. confirmed, stressing that the actual number is much higher and will only be known at the end of the conflict.
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