Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto has admitted that 95% of Ukrainian grain is not supplied to African nations.
As he said in an interview published on Friday with an Italian newspaper, the grain's absence in the conditions of termination of the grain deal will lead to an increase in prices.
"95% of Ukrainian grain is supplied outside the African continent, but if African countries do not receive this grain, they will try to make up for it, and prices will inevitably rise. As a result, it will be more difficult to buy it in Africa. The destabilization of this region is a problem that affects Europe," the minister said.
The grain deal was terminated on July 17. Russia, which has extended the agreement on the Black Sea corridor for ships with Ukrainian grain concluded in July 2022 several times, recalled that the part of the deal concerning Russia – the removal of obstacles for its agricultural export – has not been fulfilled.
Moscow also drew attention to the fact that, although the deal was intended to send food to the poorest countries, most of the grain from Ukraine went to the developed countries of the West.
According to Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of Russia's president, Moscow is ready to return to the deal, but only when the part concerning Russia is implemented.