TUESDAY, 27 SEPTEMBER 2022, 16:14 – OLEKSII PAVLYSH
Russian President Vladimir Putin repeated his previous statements that grain from Ukraine allegedly continued to bypass the poorest countries, and declared that it was the West that “provoked the food crisis”.
Putin claimed this during a meeting on the course of seasonal field works, as the Kremlin-sponsored news outlet TASS reports.
Thus, Putin said that this year’s total harvest of grain in the Russian Federation could amount to the record 150 million tons, including wheat.
“Just like before, the supplies of our grain and fertilisers abroad are complicated by sanctions, unfortunately – not for us, but for the world food market”, Putin said.
He also claims that sanctions on the export of Russian grain and fertilisers “threaten [the world with] a global food crisis; the responsibility for this lies with the West.”
Putin once again stated that Ukrainian grain allegedly continues to bypass “the poorest countries”; he claimed that by 23 September, only 4 out of 203 ships reached such countries. He once again stated it was a “sheer deception”.
In addition, Putin claims that it is the West, not the Russian Federation, which has blocked Ukrainian ports for months, “acting like a predator” and “provoking the global food crisis.”
Background:
The Russian leader said it was necessary to limit the ways of export of grain through the “grain corridor” from the territory of Ukraine: he claimed that almost all the grain was directed to the EU, and not to developing countries. The Economichna Pravda explained in numbers why this is a lie.
As part of the “grain initiative”, 2.37 million tons of agricultural products have been exported since the first ship loaded with food left Ukraine. 54 ships with 1.04 million tons were sent to Asian countries, 32 ships with 0.85 million tons sailed to Europe, 16 ships with 0.47 million tons of agricultural products headed for Africa.
President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey agreed with his Russian counterpart that grain deliveries from Ukraine go to developed countries, and not to the poorest countries; this statement was retracted by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine.
Putin once again repeated his other words that allegedly only 3% of all supplies foreseen under the food agreement were delivered to countries that need it; the Ukrainian ministries denied that, too.
Economichna Pravda
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