Ready to whitewash his image and pose as a world power, Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed on Thursday to send up to 50,000 tons of grain supplies free to six African countries. His words made headlines today in the Russian media as he opened a Russia-Africa summit in his hometown of St. Petersburg: “In the coming months we will be able to ensure the free supply of 25,000 to 50,000 tons of grain to Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, the Central African Republic and Eritrea,” he said in his opening speech a week after announcing an abandonment of the Black Sea grain export deal that could cause famine in several African countries.
The Russian leader added that those who portrayed Russia as an unreliable food supplier were “telling lies”, which has been “the practice of some Western states for decades, if not centuries.” The Kremlin is looking for friends and partners in this second summit between Russia and Africa. The first, in Sochi four years ago, was attended by 45 heads of state or government. Only 17 presidents attended this one, in which Moscow seeks to strengthen ties in the face of the partial isolation suffered by the war in Ukraine, although several dozen countries participated in total. The Kremlin attributes this general “fright” to the pressure exerted by the United States and also France, which is still active in Africa.
In his speech, Putin explained the reasons why he abandoned the grain agreement, which, according to his version, was not taking grain to the poorest countries, a fact denied by the EU and which, in any case, was not in the right conditions. The Russian leader did not acknowledge the fact that the compromise served to substantially lower world prices, which have risen sharply again since Russia withdrew from the deal.
During these days Russia has been redoubling its efforts to block Ukraine’s grain exports and maximize the damage to its economy. In addition to its systematic attacks on three Ukrainian Black Sea ports near Odessa in recent days, Moscow for the first time attacked Ukrainian terminals on the Danube river on Monday. But at the same time he has used the supply of grain – in some cases stolen from Ukraine – as a vector to generate sympathy for his position on Ukraine in the so-called “global south” and create a climate of opinion against Western sanctions.
Although the Kremlin now seeks to bolster Russia’s image as a “friend of Africa”, developing countries are at risk of a food emergency because of the invasion of Ukraine and Moscow’s breach of the grain deal. Kenya denounced this week that the Russian break was a “stab in the back” that “disproportionately affects countries” in its region.