African Countries Subjected to Pressure From West - Kremlin
13:05 GMT 25.07.2023 (Updated: 13:06 GMT 25.07.2023)
© Sputnik / Alexei Danichev
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MOSCOW (Sputnik) - All African countries have been subjected to an unprecedented level of pressure from the United States, France and other Western nations to prevent the upcoming Russia-Africa summit, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.
The second Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum will be held in St. Petersburg from July 27-28.
"Pretty much all African states have been subjected to unprecedented pressure from the United States, the French embassies have not rested and do not rest to this day, and other Western missions are trying to contribute their share to these efforts in order to prevent this summit from being held, to prevent the representation of African states at this summit," Peskov told reporters, adding that this pressure should be "condemned."
The spokesman also said that the summit is important as it will give an opportunity to discuss the Black Sea Grain Initiative and Russia’s support for Africa.
Peskov also stated that it is important to prevent use of delivery channels of Ukrainian grain for military purposes, and Russia will continue countering it.
"It is very important for us that different supply channels are not used by the Kiev regime for military purposes, in order to carry out terrorist attacks on our territory, and so on. We will continue countering this," the official stressed.
Moreover, the spokesman added that Russia received a letter from UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres which contained an action plan on the Black Sea Grain Initiative and a promise that obligations towards Russia could be fulfilled in future.
"Indeed, in the letter from Guterres, a certain plan of action was again set out and a promise that one day it would be possible to fulfill the part these agreements that concerns Russia. Unfortunately, at the moment it is impossible to return to this deal, because it is not fulfilled, it was de facto never fulfilled. Therefore, it is impossible. At the same time, President [Vladimir] Putin has made it clear that Russia is ready to immediately revive the deal as soon as it is fulfilled," Peskov told reporters.
Commenting on the proposal of Baltic states to export Ukrainian grain via their own ports, the Kremlin spokesman stated that it is these countries' sovereign right.
"It is the sovereign right of these countries, and we do not have to give any assessment here," Peskov told reporters.
Earlier in the week, Lithuania urged the European Commission to use Baltic ports to export Ukrainian grain after the expiration of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, saying that these ports could serve as a reliable alternative for transiting Ukrainian products.
On Tuesday, European Commission spokesman Adalbert Jahnz stated that the European Commission is ready to consider export of Ukrainian grain from ports of the Baltic countries, following the proposal.
"In general terms, of course all the corridors of the solidarity lanes are important and the commission is fully engaged in working on enhancing each of the corridors so diffidently the Baltic corridor is also an extremely important one and we are committed on working in that as well," Jahnz told a briefing.
Meanwhile, Eastern and Central European states banned Ukrainian food imports to shield domestic producers.
19 July 2023, 13:29 GMT
The Grain Deal implementation encouraged Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and Bulgaria to introduce a temporary ban on Ukrainian grain imports and other agricultural products transiting through their countries. Even though previously, the EU rejected food bans imposed by Warsaw, Budapest and Bratislava. In addition, Romania signaled it was ready to follow suit.
The Black Sea Grain Deal was struck in July 2022 with a two-part agreement signed by Russia, Ukraine, Turkiye, and the United Nations to arrange exports of agricultural products from Russia and Ukraine.
The first part of the deal - the regulation of exports of Ukrainian food from Black Sea ports through waters controlled by the Russian Navy - was fully implemented. However, millions of tons of grains did not reach developing nations which desperately need food supplies. According to statistics, 38% of the cargo ended up in Europe, another 30% was sent to Turkiye, 24% went to China, while only 2% arrived at the Global South despite the West's declarations that the deal was designed solely to feed the world's poorest countries.
As for the second part of the agreement, the US and the EU neglected their obligations to lift or ease restrictions on purchasing Russian grain and fertilizers. Hence, Western banks hesitated to issue loans for Russian grain purchases, insurers refused to provide insurance and agricultural equipment producers halted sales to Russia and stopped the supply of spare parts and maintenance. At the same time, Russia's agriculture-focused Rosselkhozbank remains disconnected from the SWIFT international payment system. Furthermore, many foreign assets and bank accounts of Russian companies linked with the transportation of food and fertilizers remain blocked. Finally, a section of the Togliatti-Odessa pipeline - which used to transfer Russian ammonia used in fertilizers production to the Black Sea port of Odessa - was blown up by Ukrainian terrorists in June, restricting Russia's ability to export fertilizers. Thus, on July 17, Russia suspended its participation in the Black Sea Grain Initiative, but is ready to return to the deal as soon as terms concerning Russia are implemented properly, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has stated.
