SPEAKING TRUTH TO POWER
Ramaphosa tells Putin Africans did not come to summit for free graindpa
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa conducts a news conference at the Union Buildings in Pretoria on May 24, 2022.
(Phill Magakoe/AFP/Getty Images/TNS)
MOSCOW — During his visit to Russia, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa pressed for a resumption of Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea.
Ramaphosa said at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other African leaders that he wanted the Black Sea Initiative - the deal allowing exports of Ukrainian grain — to be implemented, according to a transcript released by the Kremlin on Friday night.
He said he addressed the need to open the Black Sea and to have the Black Sea open to world markets, the transcript said.
The Russian president had made offers of free grain to his guests on Friday at the end of the two-day Africa summit he hosted in Russia's Baltic Sea metropolis of St. Petersburg.
In the West, the summit was criticized as a public relations stunt and an attempt by Putin to make African states even more dependent on Russian grain.
Russia, which has been waging a full-scale war against Ukraine for more than 17 months, recently canceled the Black Sea Initiative and has since repeatedly bombed Ukrainian port infrastructure.
At the same time, Moscow promised poorer African countries that it will supply them with grain allegedly free of charge.
Ramaphosa now stressed that the leaders did not go to St. Petersburg to ask for gifts for the African continent while thanking Putin for his generosity in offering to provide free grain to some African countries. The South African president said that was not the main goal of the attendees at the summit.
Many African countries rely heavily on Ukrainian grain supplies.
MOSCOW — During his visit to Russia, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa pressed for a resumption of Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea.
Ramaphosa said at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and other African leaders that he wanted the Black Sea Initiative - the deal allowing exports of Ukrainian grain — to be implemented, according to a transcript released by the Kremlin on Friday night.
He said he addressed the need to open the Black Sea and to have the Black Sea open to world markets, the transcript said.
The Russian president had made offers of free grain to his guests on Friday at the end of the two-day Africa summit he hosted in Russia's Baltic Sea metropolis of St. Petersburg.
In the West, the summit was criticized as a public relations stunt and an attempt by Putin to make African states even more dependent on Russian grain.
Russia, which has been waging a full-scale war against Ukraine for more than 17 months, recently canceled the Black Sea Initiative and has since repeatedly bombed Ukrainian port infrastructure.
At the same time, Moscow promised poorer African countries that it will supply them with grain allegedly free of charge.
Ramaphosa now stressed that the leaders did not go to St. Petersburg to ask for gifts for the African continent while thanking Putin for his generosity in offering to provide free grain to some African countries. The South African president said that was not the main goal of the attendees at the summit.
Many African countries rely heavily on Ukrainian grain supplies.
No comments:
Post a Comment