President Putin has held a productive conversation with the African delegation, the sides noted the importance of supplies of Russian grain to the poorest countries in Africa, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.
The discussion occured during the visit of 7 African nations' leaders and representatives to the Russian city of St. Petersburg last Saturday. The visit was a part of a peace initiative on Ukraine earlier proposed by the African states.
Talks between Russian President Vladimir Putin and an African delegation on the Ukraine peace initiative finished at the Konstantinovsky Palace in St. Petersburg after 2.5 hours. The meeting was followed by bilateral talks between the South African President and Vladimir Putin regarding Moscow’s stance on the Ukraine crisis.
Before visiting St. Petersburg, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Senegalese President Macky Sall, Comoros President Othman Ghazali, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly as well as Ugandan and Congolese representatives visited Kiev on Friday.
The issue of grain supplies was discussed as the Black Sea Grain deal, sealed in July last year, was recently extended for 60 days, until July 17.
Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin noted that Russia believes that July 18 will be the day of the grain deal's termination.
"We continue to have contacts, including working ones. But we will do what we said. That is, we are working to ensure that July 18 is the time for the completion of those agreements that are not being implemented," Vershinin told reporters.
At the same time, Russia does not exclude new face-to-face contacts with the UN on the grain deal, the diplomat added.
Moscow leaves to the discretion of the UN the possibility of continuing work on the memorandum as part of the grain deal in case it is not extended, he said.
The grain deal
Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN reached an agreement on July 22, 2022 to provide a humanitarian maritime corridor for ships carrying food and fertilizer exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports. On May 18, 2023, Russia extended the deal, called the Black Sea Grain Initiative, for 60 days, until July 17.
The deal is an integral part of a package agreement. The second part - the Russia-UN memorandum, designed for three years - envisions the unblocking of Russian exports of food and fertilizers, the reconnection of the Russian Agricultural Bank to SWIFT, the resumption of supplies of agricultural machinery, spare parts and services, the restoration of the Togliatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline and a number of other measures. Moscow says this part of the package agreement has not been implemented yet.
Russia supplied 30-40% of grain to the continent, accounting for 80% of the needs of Africa, Benedict Okey Oramah, the president of the African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank) said during the SPIEF (June 14-17, 2023).