MOSCOW, July 24. /TASS/. While Russia has been sending fertilizers to the world’s poorest countries free of charge, the West has been mounting barriers by blocking a substantial portion of supplies and holding it `unscrupulously’, Russian President Vladimir Putin wrote in his article for the 2nd Russia-Africa Summit to be held in St. Petersburg later this week.

"Barriers have been mounted even to our attempts to supply free of charge mineral fertilizers to the poorest countries in need. Of 262,000 metric tons of goods blocked in European ports, only two shipments were delivered - one of 20,000 metric tons to Malawi and the other of 34,000 metric tons to Kenya. The rest is still being unscrupulously held by the Europeans," Putin lamented.

And this, the Russian leader said, "is a purely humanitarian initiative we are talking about, which should be exempt from any sanctions as such."

The second Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum is slated for July 27-28 in St. Petersburg. The first such event was held in Sochi on October 22-24, 2019 under the slogan "For peace, security and development.".