ST. PETERSBURG, July 30. /TASS/. Free deliveries of Russian grain to the poorest African countries will begin within the next 3-4 months, Russian President Vladimir Putin said answering questions from reporters.
"So that the poorest countries do not really suffer, so that there are no grounds to accuse us of being to blame for the plight of the poorest countries [of Africa], we said that we are ready to start supplying grain to these poorest countries for free, for humanitarian reasons. We will start delivering 25,000-50,000 tons within 3-4 months," he said.
The President also recalled that providing food to needy states was the "main motivator" for the UN in the negotiations on the grain deal, but in the end, the poorest countries received only about 3% of the grain exported from Ukraine under the deal.
"Therefore, given that none of the promises that were made to us to facilitate the export of our grain and our fertilizers to world markets were fulfilled, and we repeatedly extended our participation in this so-called grain deal hoping that these promises will be fulfilled, we once again said: "First, you fulfill, and then we will return to this deal," the head of state added.
Earlier, during a speech at a plenary session of the Russia-Africa Forum, Putin announced free grain supplies to Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, the Central African Republic and Eritrea.