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Russia, Eswatini to appeal to UN for solution on supply of fertilizers — Lavrov

Sergey Lavrov noted that 280,000 tons of fertilizers detained in EU ports should be released and delivered to the poorest countries

MBABANE /Kingdom of Eswatini/, January 24. /TASS/. Russia and Eswatini will send a request to the UN Secretary General to find a quick solution to ensure free-of-charge supplies of Russian fertilizers blocked in ports in the European Union to the Kingdom.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said this at a press conference following talks with his counterpart from Eswatini, Thulisile Dladla.

"Given that the UN Secretary General [Antonio Guterres] actively advocated for the settlement of all issues related to ensuring the unhindered supply of Russian grain and fertilizers to world markets, we agreed today that the Eswatini government and our government will send him an appeal with a specific request to promptly resolve the issue on the use of part of the Russian fertilizers detained in EU ports for the needs of the people of Eswatini free of charge, because this fertilizer is available free of charge," Lavrov said.

He noted that 280,000 tons of fertilizers detained in EU ports should be released and delivered to the poorest countries.

"The only thing they have done in these six months after the proposal we made is agree to supply 20,000 out of 280,000 tons for the African country of Malawi. These deliveries took several months, encountering bureaucratic obstacles and the overtly politicized approach of EU countries that are looking for a reason to punish the Russian Federation, but they are really just punishing developing countries instead," Lavrov added.

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