Moscow. When inaugurating the second edition of the Russia-Africa summit yesterday in St. Petersburg, the host, President Vladimir Putin, as expected, materialized his offer to donate up to 300,000 cereals to the most needy countries on the African continent. tons, but not the half million tons that he announced a few months ago in case the so-called grain pact, reached with the mediation of Turkey and the United Nations, was not extended and was suspended 10 days ago.
The exact amount that Russia is willing to give away is unknown because the head of the Kremlin did not specify it: “In the next three or four months we will be ready to supply Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, the Central African Republic and Eritrea, to each one, between 25,000 and 50,000 tons of cereals for free.”
It should be noted that in a recent Russian bombardment of the Odessa port area, 60,000 tons of grain destined for China was lost, which is redoubling its efforts to increase its influence in Africa in competition with the United States, Europe and… Russia.
Putin, after assuring that in the first half of this year his nation exported 10 million tons of cereals to Africa (one and a half million tons less than in all of 2022), stressed: “We are aware of the importance of an uninterrupted supply of food for African countries. It is essential for socioeconomic development and political stability.”
Putin, after regretting that the Black Sea food initiative was suspended due to non-compliance with Moscow’s demands, said that taking into account that this year it will have a record harvest, “it is in a position to replace Ukrainian grain” both in the form of commercial supplies as free humanitarian aid for the countries most in need.
The logistical part remains to be resolved: although Western sanctions do not include Russian cereals or fertilizers, their transport to distant countries, such as African ones, becomes an odyssey by preventing Russian cargo ships from entering European ports, by refusing insurers to serve Russian clients and a host of small obstacles that the Kremlin wants to solve by withdrawing from the grain pact.
On behalf of the guests, Azali Assoumani, head of state of the Comoros and current president of the African Union (AU), insisted on the continent’s peace initiative when referring, in front of the Russian president, to the need to put an end to the “negative consequences” of the war in Ukraine, suffered by the nations of its continent as they are dependent on grains.
“We are seeing negative consequences that reverberate throughout the world, including Africa, whose countries have partner relations with Russia and Ukraine,” Assoumani said, adding: “The world today is on the brink of destruction.” Meanwhile, Putin pledged to “promote the strengthening of the sovereignty of African countries and help them become one of the key partners in the multipolar world” and recalled that his country supports the idea of granting the AU full membership in the G-20. “I hope this decision will be taken in early September during the group’s summit in New Delhi,” he said.
The president of Niger, Mohamed Bazoum, did not attend the city of the Neva due to the coup d’état that is taking place in his country and that motivated the “serious concern” of his counterparts.
While the Russian Foreign Ministry, through its spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, urged the parties in conflict “to refrain from the use of force and to resolve disputes through peaceful and constructive dialogue”, as well as expressed the hope of “a prompt settlement of this crisis internal politics”. Another of those who could not attend the appointment called by Putin, because he was not invited, is the disgraced tycoon, Yevgueni Prigozhin, but he met yesterday in St. Petersburg at a hotel owned by at least the representatives of Niger, Mali and the Central African Republic.
In open defiance of his former protector, Prigozhin – who should be in exile in Belarus – appears on Russian social networks greeting, smiling and in jeans and shirt sleeves, suit-dressed dignitaries of African nations with which the protagonist of the failed rebellion of the Wagner mercenary group on June 23 and 24 has strong economic interests and military “instructors” ready to go into action.
