Moscow on Friday handed humanitarian aid to the Central African Republic (CAR) in the form of 50,000 tonnes of wheat, the Russian Embassy in Bangui said in a statement on Telegram.
"On March 15, in Bangui, the Russian Ambassador to the CAR, Alexander Bikantov, took part in the solemn ceremony of handing over Russian humanitarian food aid in the form of 50,000 tonnes of wheat to the CAR authorities," according to the statement.
The ceremony was attended by CAR President Faustin-Archange Touadera, members of the government and National Assembly.
“The ambassador stated that this humanitarian aid supply once again demonstrated Russia’s readiness to provide assistance to friendly African countries, including the CAR,” the embassy said.
Last July, Russia withdrew from the Turkey and UN-mediated Black Sea Grain Initiative, which allowed Ukrainian grain shipments during the past year, since the deal's component on facilitating Russian grain and fertilizer exports had not been fulfilled and most of the supplies were going to rich European countries rather than poor African nations.
However, at the second Russia-Africa Summit in July 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to deliver 200,000 tonnes of free humanitarian grain relief to six African countries recognized by the World Food Program as being in need due to conflict, climate change, and other factors.
Thanks to this initiative, Mali, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Eritrea, Somalia and Zimbabwe received much-needed help.