Russia Starts Delivering Free Grains To Six Countries In Africa

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. (Photo: Doc. Antara)

JAKARTA - Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday 1 September Moscow had started shipping Russian grain supplies to six African countries.

Quoting Antara, Sunday, September 4, it was stated that Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Eritrea, Mali, Somalia, and Zimbabwe will each get 50,000 tons of seeds for free in the coming months, he said at an event in Moscow.

Russia will also bear shipping costs, he continued. Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously promised to supply the seeds for free to Africa after Moscow decided to withdraw from the Black Sea seed deal last July.

Moscow suspended its participation in the agreement because there are some of their demands that have not yet been met, namely removing barriers to Russia's fertilizer exports and returning Russian agricultural banks to the SWIFT international payment system.

During the event, Lavrov also mentioned the Ukraine peace consultation meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on August 5-6.

Saudi Arabia has told Moscow that the meeting was held to convey an idea to Western countries and Ukraine that a peaceful settlement between Moscow and Kiev could not progress without Russian participation, he said.

Regarding Russia's desire to trade with currencies other than the US dollar, Lavrov said that Washington had damaged the currency's position by making it a weapon.

According to Lavrov, Russia currently doesn't have enough experience to switch to other currencies, but standard procedures will develop gradually as many countries are forced to look for alternatives other than the dollar.