Mogadishu (Halbeeg News) – Somali government has welcomed the pledge by Russian president Vladimir Putin to free grain supplies to six African nations as Moscow seeks to capitalise on the collapse of the Black Sea grain deal.
“In the coming months, we will be ready to provide Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, the Central African Republic and Eritrea with 25,000-50,000 tonnes of grain free of charge,” Putin told African leaders. “Our country will continue supporting needy states and regions, in particular, with its humanitarian deliveries. We seek to actively participate in building a fairer system of distribution of resources. We are taking maximum efforts to avert a global food crisis.”
Russia was this week hosting a two-day summit with the African continent designed to portray Moscow as a great power despite crippling western sanctions and growing unease in the global south over the country’s destabilising war in Ukraine.
In a Twitter post, Somali government lauded the move, saying it was happy to hear the announcement made by President Putin to deliver 25000-50,000 tons of grain free of charge to 7 countries including Somalia.
“ It’s a positive humanitarian decision that will help thousands of Somalis who are facing shortages of food” said Information Minister, Daud Aweys.
Both Russia and Ukraine are major grain suppliers. They agreed a year ago on a U.N.- and Turkey-brokered deal that reopened three Ukrainian Black Sea ports blocked by fighting and provided assurances that ships entering the ports would not be attacked.
Russia declined to renew the agreement last week, complaining that its own exports were being held up.
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