UNITED NATIONS, September 23. /TASS/. Just around three percent of grain delivered under the Black Sea grain transportation deal has reached Africa, and Moscow is ready to compensate this amount in excess, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters on Saturday.
"Only three percent of grain was delivered to poor countries that are on the World Food Programme’s list," Lavrov said at a news conference to sum up the results of his work during the 78th UN General Assembly.
He added that Russia "has already been compensating" for the grain deliveries that reached Africa’s poorest nations over the period when the Ukrainian part of the deal was in force.
In his words, Russia has been delivering the same amounts of agricultural products. "And, we are even going to add some more, as we have already announced," Lavrov said.
He drew attention to the fact that 48% of agricultural products delivered under the grain deal ended up in countries of the European Union, while the rest was supplied to "countries whose income is above average, who have enough money and can afford buying everything on their own."
Russia’s top diplomat called upon journalists to "examine the statistical data" and advised them to take into account the fact that food prices, which grew after the news of the grain deal’s termination, "have now plunged to the levels of 2021."
In this regard, he condemned the rhetoric of "crisis" and "famine" that accompanied the news about the price growth.