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Lavrov says termination of grain deal does not undermine food security

09 October 2023 18:12 (UTC +04:00)

The termination of the grain accord has no impact on poor countries' food security, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said following talks with Secretary-General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit, APA reports citing TASS.

"The termination of the Black Sea Initiative due to the fact that the Russian part was not implemented at all had no impact on the food security of developing countries," Lavrov said. "Our trading partners we supply grain to and fertilizer are not affected. There have been no interruptions in the supply of grain, for example, to Arab states, all plans are being fulfilled and will be fulfilled on time, despite the illegal obstacles created by Western sanctions, including those related to cargo, entry of ships into ports and a number of other procedures," he added.

Lavrov stated that "African countries, the poorest countries, received practically nothing from the Ukrainian part of the deal, which was a purely commercial project, primarily in the interests of American grain companies, which bought up more than a third of Ukraine's fertile lands." "They benefited the most from what is called the Black Sea grain deal," he added.

Lavrov also said that Russia will continue to provide humanitarian supplies of grain and fertilizers to countries most in need next year. "We will continue our humanitarian activity in this direction next year," he said.

Lavrov recalled that during the Russia-Africa summit, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared Moscow's decision to "send a free large shipment of grain as humanitarian aid to six African countries that are on the World Food Program list." "These are the countries that are most in need of food. These supplies will be completed by the end of the year," the minister added.