ST. PETERSBURG (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th July, 2023) Russian President Vladimir Putin says Russia is ready to give away for free to those in need the fertilizers that are being held in ports of Baltic countries, but they are not being released.
Putin held a meeting with the leaders of African countries in St. Petersburg on Friday. The president said that Russia was going to supply grain to African countries on a commercial basis as well as free of charge.
"We discussed this with our African friends yesterday. And I drew attention to the ten thousand tonnes of our fertilizers that are stored in the Baltic ports. It's very strange, right? Our fertilizers are there. Our companies said: 'We will give it away for free.' OK then. Let's say someone doesn't want us to earn money on this, and let the money go to war, as they say. But we are giving it away for free," Putin told reporters on Saturday, at the conclusion of the Russia-Africa summit.
The president emphasized that Russia will not earn anything on these fertilizers, "and we will not let anything go to war if the needy African countries receive this fertilizer free of charge," but "they are not letting go (of the Russian fertilizer.)"
On July 18, the Black Sea Grain Initiative, commonly known as the grain deal, which provided for a humanitarian corridor to allow exports of Ukrainian grain over the past year expired, as Russia did not renew its participation in the deal. Moscow emphasized that the deal's component on facilitating Russian grain and fertilizer exports had not been fulfilled.
