The Russian President, Vladimir Putinassured this Thursday that Russia In the next four months, it will be able to send between 25,000 and 50,000 tons of grain to six African countries for free.
“In the next 3-4 months we will be ready to provide Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, the Central African Republic and Eritrea with between 25,000 and 50,000 tons of cereals free of charge,” the Russian leader said at the plenary session of the Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum in Saint Petersburg. He added that Russia will also bear the cost of transporting the grain.
Poor countries, particularly in Africa, fear a further spike in food prices after the recent end of a deal to export Ukrainian cereals across the Black Sea.
The second Russia-Africa summit is being held in Saint Petersburg, the former imperial capital, after a first in 2019 in SochiOn the banks of Black Sea.
The Kremlin indicated that “49 African countries confirmed their participation”, and noted that there will be “a final declaration”, which “will establish coordinated approaches for the development of Russian-African cooperation.”