Putin has claimed that “almost all” Ukrainian grain exports are delivered to rich European countries.
Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, said that “almost all” the grain exported by Ukraine as part of UN-backed deal to address a global food crisis was going to wealthy European countries. Ukraine has refuted this statement.
Putin said on Wednesday that grain exports from Ukraine were benefiting wealthy European nations at the cost of underdeveloped nations.
In Vladivostok, a port on the Pacific of Russia, he said, “Almost all the grain exported from Ukraine is sent not to the poorest developing countries, but to EU countries.”
However, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba rejected the assertions made by Putin, who ordered his soldiers to invade Ukraine in February, disrupting grain supplies.
One of the largest exporters of wheat and other grain products is Russia, followed by Ukraine.
“In total, two-thirds of the ships sent are directed to Asia, Africa, and the Middle East,” Kuleba said, adding that the recovery of Ukrainian food exports through the “grain corridor” had a positive effect on the reduction of prices as in August, after first shipments were completed, wheat prices fell by at least five percent.
“The Russians’ fakes about sending Ukrainian grain only to Europe simply do not correspond to reality,” Kuleba said.
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The accord, which was the only diplomatic achievement between Moscow and Kyiv after more than six months of fighting, aims to lower food costs by increasing supplies.
Putin, however, said that rather than helping poor nations, the agreement was delivering grain, fertilizer, and other food to the European Union.
He accused European countries of acting as “colonialists” and said they “once again simply deceived developing countries”.
“With this approach, the scale of food problems in the world will only grow,” the Russian leader said.
