Putin blames West for collapse of Black Sea grain deal and says Russia was forced to pull out
Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed the West for the collapse of the Black Sea grain deal and said, even after Moscow pulled out, there has been no shortage of food in the global market. His remarks come after several hours of talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday.
“The West, to put it mildly, deceived us about humanitarian goals by the humanitarian Black Sea initiative to assist developing countries," Putin said.
Russia said when it left the deal that promised guarantees made about its own agricultural and fertilizer exports had not been upheld.
“As I've said before, we were simply forced to make this decision," Putin said, referring to not renewing the deal.
“Obviously, the termination of the deal did not affect the global production markets, and I would like to emphasize this in particular. No matter what they say about this, grain prices continue to decline, there is no physical shortage of food. There are problems with its fair distribution, yes. But this has nothing to do with the so-called grain deal," Putin added.
The Russian president described the meeting with Erdogan as “held in a constructive and business-like atmosphere.”
Putin said he told Erdogan Russia "will be ready to consider reviving the grain deal" and talked about supplying Russian grain free of charge to several African countries.
"We will do so as soon as all the agreements on lifting restrictions on the export of Russian agricultural products are fully implemented," he said.
Erdogan said he believes he and Putin will be able to reach a solution on the grain deal that will “fulfill expectations soon."
Putin said Monday’s meeting also included discussion of joint gas and energy projects
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