(Moscow) Vladimir Putin spoke on the phone on Saturday with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, to discuss the Russian offensive in Ukraine and the export of cereals, while a global food crisis is brewing.
Posted at 9:28
Updated at 10:09 a.m.
The 80-minute interview was held at the request of MM. Macron and Scholz, according to the German Chancellery.
“Russia is ready to help find options for unhindered export of grain, including Ukrainian grain from ports on the Black Sea,” Putin said during the conversation, according to a statement. of the Kremlin.
According to Mr. Putin, the difficulties related to food deliveries were caused by “a wrong economic and financial policy of Western countries, as well as anti-Russian sanctions” imposed by these countries, explains the press release.
Photo SPUTNIK/Kremlin via REUTERS
Russian President Vladimir Putin
An increase in deliveries of Russian fertilizers and agricultural products could reduce tensions on the international agricultural market “which will obviously require the lifting of the appropriate sanctions” targeting Moscow, he underlined.
Ukraine, a major exporter of cereals, especially corn and wheat, is seeing its production blocked due to the fighting. For its part, Russia, another cereal power, cannot sell its production and its fertilizers because of Western sanctions affecting the financial and logistics sectors. The two countries produce a third of the world’s wheat.
In fact, the conflict has undermined the global food balance, raising fears of a serious crisis that will particularly affect the poorest countries.
The Russian President has “undertaken that Russia will not take advantage of the opening of the mine belt set up to protect Ukrainian ports, to allow the export of grain by ship, to carry out offensive actions “Assured the German Chancellery, adding that the three leaders agreed on the “central role” that the United Nations must play to guarantee exports.
The two Western leaders “insisted on an immediate ceasefire and withdrawal of Russian troops” and “called on the Russian president for serious direct negotiations with the Ukrainian president and a diplomatic solution to the conflict”, according to the chancellery. .
The Russian president confirmed to him that Russia remained “open to a resumption of dialogue” with Kyiv to resolve the armed conflict, while peace negotiations with Ukraine have been stalled since March, according to the Kremlin.
During the telephone interview, Vladimir Putin also “emphasized the danger of continuing to flood Ukraine with Western weapons, warning of the risks of further destabilization of the situation and a worsening of the humanitarian crisis”, according to the same source.
Finally, Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz asked Vladimir Putin to release 2,500 Ukrainian fighters who had taken refuge in the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol (south) and were taken prisoner by the Russians, according to the French presidency.