Putin hits back at West; says grains from Ukraine can be exported via ports or via Belarus

INTERNATIONAL DESK: Russian President Vladimir Putin has hit back two days after Ukraine and the West claimed that Russia has blocked 20 million tons of grain being exported from Ukraine.

Calling out the West’, Putin clarified that Russia had not blocked any exports. “There is no problem to export grain from Ukraine,” he said in an interview to Rossyia 1 TV channel.

He said that it could be done via Ukrainian ports, via others under Russian control, or even via central Europe. He also said ports under Kyiv’s control, in particular, Odessa, could be used but called for the waters around the Ukrainian-held ports to be cleared of mines by Ukraine.

“But the simplest, the easiest, the cheapest would be exports via Belarus, from there one can go to Baltic ports, then to the Baltic Sea and then anywhere in the world,” he added.

We are now seeing attempts to shift the responsibility for what is happening on the world food market, the emerging problems in this market, onto Russia. This is an attempt, as our people say, to shift these problems from a sick head to a healthy one,” Putin said.

Meanwhile Senegal’s President Macky Sall said Putin had told him on Friday he was ready to enable the export of Ukrainian grain to ease a global food crisis that is hitting Africa especially hard.

“President #Putin has expressed to us his willingness to facilitate the export of Ukrainian cereals,” Sall wrote on Twitter after meeting Putin in his role as chairman of the African Union.

Russia was also ready to ensure the export of its own wheat and fertiliser, Sall said after the talks in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi.

Russia and Ukraine account for nearly a third of global wheat supplies, while Russia is also a key global fertilizer exporter and is exporting fertilizer to India. (The Economic Times)