Vladimir Putin has defended exiting a grain deal seen as critical for feeding drought-hit African countries, ahead of a meeting Russia is hosting for leaders from the continent.
On the eve of the Russia-Africa Summit starting in St Petersburg on Thursday, Putin accused the West of exploiting the agreement struck in July 2022 to allow Ukraine to safely export grain through the Black Sea. He also insisted that Russian supplies could make up any shortfalls.
Kenya last week joined the chorus of international condemnation of Moscow after its withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative, following strikes on Crimea's Kerch Bridge.
Russia's decision was described by Kenyan civil servant Korir Sing'Oei as "a stab on [sic] the back at global food security prices and disproportionately impacts countries in the Horn of Africa."
East Africa is experiencing one of the worst droughts in decades, affecting tens of millions of people and there are concerns Russia's decision will exacerbate hunger in the region, and in other parts of the world.
But Putin questioned the West's concern for the global food security that the deal was supposed to ensure, saying that it has been "shamelessly used solely for the enrichment of large U.S. and European businesses that exported and resold grain from Ukraine."
In a statement on the Kremlin website released Monday, the Russian president said that 70 percent of the exports of the 32.8 million tonnes exported under the deal ended up in high and upper-middle-income countries.
The UN has in fact said that under the deal, Ukraine has shipped 625,000 tonnes of food as humanitarian aid to Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.
However, Putin repeated his previous complaints that parts of the deal allowing the export of Russian food and fertilisers had not been honored and that Western sanctions were restricting Russia's own agricultural exports.
"There is no longer any use in continuing the 'grain deal' as it has failed to serve its original humanitarian purpose," Putin said.
"I want to give assurances that our country is capable of replacing the Ukrainian grain both on a commercial and free-of-charge basis, especially as we expect another record harvest this year," he wrote.
"Russia will continue its energetic efforts to provide supplies of grain, food products, fertilisers and other goods to Africa," he added.
Cara Buck, the Ukraine response director for the aid organization Mercy Corps, said while the Black Sea deal was critical to easing a global food crisis, one year on "not nearly enough grain is getting out of Ukraine."
This was because many Ukrainian farmers could not access seaports to move their produce, in a problem that was exacerbated by the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in Kherson oblast, which Kyiv has blamed Moscow for.
"Even if the deal doesn't unravel, the impact of a major reduction in exports will be economically disastrous for Ukrainian farmers, as well as global food supplies and food prices," Buck said in a statement to Newsweek.
Meanwhile, Putin's decision is not expected to destabilize global food prices, at least in the short term, according to Kumar Amit, a senior specialist at the business consultancy The Smart Cube.
"However, termination of the grain deal, combined with concerns related to possible drought in Europe and the onset of the El Niño weather phenomenon in the second half of 2023, may lead to a supply shortfall, putting upward pressure on prices," Amit told Newsweek.
"Ukraine will now be compelled to export the majority of its grains and oilseeds through its land borders and Danube ports," added Amit. "This change will significantly increase transportation costs and negatively affect Ukrainian farmers' profits."
