MOSCOW: The Kremlin says that Ukrainian grain supplies to world markets will be part of the agenda for Russian President Vladimir Putin's talks with the chairman of the African Union, Senegalese President Macky Sall.
Ukraine is one of the world's largest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil. Ukrainian authorities and their Western supporters have accused Russia of endangering world food supplies with a naval blockade of Ukraine's ports. Russia has denied blocking the ports and said Ukraine needed to remove sea mines to allow safe shipping.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin plans to give Sall a "detailed explanation" of Russia's view of the situation and "explain again what's going on there, who mined the ports, what is necessary to do to allow the grain flow to resume."
African countries imported 44% of their wheat from Russia and Ukraine between 2018 and 2020, according to U.N. figures. Wheat prices have spiked 45% as a result of the war-related disruption of supplies, according to the African Development Bank.
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