ST. PETERSBURG, July 28. /TASS/. Despite export limitations, Moscow is increasing its supplies of agricultural products to African countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday.

"Because we recognize the importance of an uninterrupted supply of food for socioeconomic development and the political stability of African states, we are increasing agricultural product supply to Africa. Thus, 11.5 mln tons of grain were transported to African countries in 2022, and around 10 mln tons were sent in the first six months of this year," he said.

According to Putin, this will happen "despite the illegal sanctions imposed on [Russian] exports, which seriously impede the supply of Russian food, complicate transport logistics, insurance, and bank payments."

He added that Moscow will continue to take a responsible approach to agricultural product supplies, including deliveries grain and other products to countries in need free of charge, Russian President Vladimir Putin said during the plenary session of the Russia-Africa summit. Putin recalled the previous day's announcement that 25,000-50,000 metric tons of grain will be sent free of charge to six African countries over the next three to four months.

He also stressed that Moscow carried out 11 humanitarian missions bilaterally with ten African countries in the past nearly four years.

The second Russia-Africa Summit was held at St. Petersburg’s Expoforum on July 27-28, in parallel with economic and humanitarian forums. Similar to the first such summit in 2019, the event is being held under the rubric "For Peace, Security and Development." The event is being organized by the Roscongress Foundation. TASS is the event’s official information partner and photo-hosting agency.