The Russian president has published a comprehensive article on the eve of the Russia-Africa Summit in which he condemns the Western sanctions that prevent normal shipments of food and other merchandise to the African continent.
on the eve of the Russia-Africa Summit Scheduled for July 27 and 28 in the city of Saint Petersburg, Russian President Vladimir Putin maintains in an article published this Sunday that, after the suspension of the grain agreement, Moscow is willing to replace Ukrainian shipments to African countries, both commercially and free of charge.
“I would like to ensure that our country is able to substitute Ukrainian grains, both on a commercial basis and free of charge, especially since we expect another record crop this year“.
This was stated by the Russian leader in the article, published on the official website of the Kremlin under the title ‘Russia and Africa: joining forces for the sake of peace, progress and a successful future’.
The Russian president lists Moscow’s arguments to oppose the extension of the grain pact, which was without effect as of July 18. In particular, Putin points out that the agreement, initially sealed for humanitarian purposes, “was actually used openly just to enrich big American and European companies who exported and resold grain from Ukraine”.
“The facts speak for themselves. In almost a year of grain pact, a total of 32.8 million tons of cargo were exported from Ukraine, more than 70% of which went to high- and upper-middle-income countriesincluding the EU, while countries like Ethiopia, Sudan and Somalia, and also Yemen and Afghanistan, received less than 3% of the total volume, that is, less than one million tons,” Putin writes.
Likewise, the Russian president denounces that “none of the conditions” of the pact aimed at unlocking supplies of Russian agricultural products and fertilizers to global markets. Added to this are the obstacles whom Russia ran into when trying to send mineral fertilizers free of charge to the poorest and most needy nations. In particular, of the 262,000 tons of products stranded in European ports, only two batches were managed: one of 20,000 tons to Malawi and the other of 34,000 to Kenya.
“The rest stays in the hands of dishonest Europeans. This happens despite the fact that it is a purely humanitarian action that cannot be affected by any sanctions in principle”, stresses the Russian leader, stressing that given the set of factors listed “stopped making sense“Continue extending the grain agreement.
Prospects for cooperation and a “dignified place” for Africa in the world
In this context, Putin confirms that Russia will continue to make an “energy” effort to deliver food, fertilizers and other goods to Africa, while advocating to expand trade ties with the continent, taking into account that in the year 2022 trade between Moscow and African nations reached almost 18,000 million dollars. To consolidate economic cooperation in the face of global changes, the Russian president proposes to seek solutions to establish new logistics chains, create a monetary and financial system, as well as mutual payment mechanisms “independent of negative external influences“.
On the other hand, Putin highlighted the increasingly influential role that Africa plays in the world, and announced that Moscow is in favor of granting the nations of the continent “a decent place” in structures such as the UN Security Council or the G20.
“There is no doubt that Africa, along with Asia, the Middle East and Latin America, will occupy a worthy place in this new world order, definitively getting rid of the heavy legacy of colonialism and neocolonialism and rejecting their contemporary practices,” he predicts.
Likewise, the Russian president emphasizes the continuity of contacts between Russia and Africa since the times of the USSR, while pointing out that Moscow “never” tried to impose on its African partners “our own notions regarding internal order, forms and methods of government, the goals of development and the ways to achieve it”.
Source: RT
