The main goal of the UN-facilitated agreement has not been achieved as the food has not reached poor nations, the Russian president said
Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with his South African counterpart, Cyril Ramaphosa, on Saturday. The African peace initiative for the conflict in Ukraine and the grain deal were the main topics on the agenda, the Kremlin said in a statement.
The agreement on grain shipments between Moscow and Kiev, mediated by the UN and Türkiye in summer 2022, has still not fulfilled its purpose, Putin told the South African leader. He said agricultural goods that should have been delivered to poorer nations under the deal have not reached them, including those on the African continent.
Formally known as the Black Sea Initiative, the deal was originally touted as a way of avoiding a food crisis by steering grain toward those that need it most. Moscow has repeatedly stressed that only a tiny percentage of the…
