Putin promises grains, debt write-off

Russian President Vladimir Putin says his country and the African leaders attending a summit in St Petersburg have agreed to promote a multipolar world order and fight “neocolonialism” as he offered debt write-offs and grain to woo allies.“Russia’s attention to Africa is steadily growing,” Putin said on Friday at the end of the two-day summit. The meeting was seen as a test of Moscow’s support in Africa, where Russia retains backing despite international isolation sparked by its war in Ukraine.“I have already said that our country can replace Ukrainian grain, both on a commercial basis and as grant aid to the neediest African countries, more so since we expect another record harvest this year,” Putin said on Thursday when he opened the summit.Russia intends to ship up to 50 000 tons of grain aid to Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Eritrea and Central African Republic in the next three to four months, he said.Both Russia and Ukraine are major grain suppliers. They agreed a year ago on a U.N.- and Turkey-brokered deal that reopened three Ukrainian Black Sea ports blocked by fighting and provided assurances that ships entering the ports would not be attacked. Russia declined to renew the agreement last week, complaining that its own exports were being held up.Bolstering tiesPromising Russian food exports to Africa is key to Putin’s stated goal of using the summit in St. Petersburg to bolster ties with a continent of 1.3 billion people that is increasingly assertive on the global stage.Africa’s 54 nations make up the largest voting bloc at the United Nations and have been more divided than any other region on General Assembly resolutions criticising Russia’s actions in Ukraine.Putin also said Russia was participating in efforts to relieve the debt burden of African countries, stressing “to date, the total amount of debt we have written off is US$23 billion”.“According to the latest requests from African countries, we will allocate more than US$90 million more for these purposes and their development,” he said. – AP/Al Jazeera

Putin promises grains, debt write-off

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