UN Secretary General hopes that African leaders will agree with Putin to extend grain deal

UkrAgroConsult

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed hope that the delegation of African leaders that will soon meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin will be able to agree on the extension of the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain.

“I hope that the talks between President Putin and African leaders will result in a positive outcome on the grain deal, as well as on our actions regarding the export of Russian food and fertilizers,” Guterres said.

On Thursday, the African delegation met in Warsaw with Polish President Andrzej Duda, on Friday it is scheduled to arrive in Kyiv to talk with Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and on Saturday it will meet with Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg.

According to Reuters, African leaders are trying to achieve a ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia and, among other things, are proposing that Moscow withdraw its troops and that Kyiv and Western countries ease sanctions.

One of the topics of the talks between African representatives and Putin should also be the grain deal, which allows for the export of millions of tons of Ukrainian grain through Black Sea ports and thus reduces prices on the world market, which is important for African countries.

This week, Putin once again threatened to withdraw from the agreement. He said that the sea corridors used by grain ships are allegedly “constantly used by the enemy to launch drones and maritime drones.”

To this end, Russia’s representatives have repeatedly expressed dissatisfaction with the way the agreement works and demanded that a number of conditions be met regarding its agricultural exports, particularly fertilizers.

Although Russian agricultural exports are not subject to international sanctions imposed in connection with the invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops, Moscow claims that restrictions on payment, transportation, and insurance make it much more difficult for it to export abroad.

Tags: Ukraine, Russia, Africa, UN, Black Sea grain corridor