Russia Sent 200,000 Tonnes of Wheat to Africa as Promised - Foreign Ministry
MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Russia sent 200,000 tonnes of wheat to African countries from November 2023 to January 2024 as promised, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Wednesday.
"Following the principled position of providing food aid to countries in acute need, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the second Russia-Africa summit held in July 2023 in Saint Petersburg that our country was ready to provide wheat as free humanitarian aid to a number of African countries in the following months. Pursuant to that decision, 200,000 tonnes of grain were transported by sea to Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, the CAR and Eritrea," Zakharova told a press briefing.
The first batch of grain, 25,000 tonnes each for Somalia and Burkina Faso, left Russia in mid-November, the spokeswoman said. In January, wheat was delivered to Burkina Faso, Mali, Somalia and Eritrea, and the batch for Zimbabwe is currently being transported from Mozambique, she said.
Russia has lived up to its promise "in the shortest term," Zakharova added.
