Russian President Vladimir Putin told French and German leaders in a phone call on Saturday that Russia was willing to discuss a solution to allow Ukraine to resume grain shipments from seaports. Black, the Kremlin announced.
Russia, one of the world’s leading fertilizer exporters, and Ukraine, a major exporter of corn and sunflower oil, together account for almost a third of global wheat supplies. “For its part, Russia is ready to help find options for the unhindered export of grain, including the export of Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports,” the Kremlin writes.
According to the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin said he had also informed French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that Russia was ready to increase exports of fertilizers and agricultural products if sanctions once morest it were lifted.
The Russian president recently made the same proposal to the Italian and Austrian leaders. Ukraine and Western countries accuse Russia of contributing to the risk of a food crisis by invading its neighbor, which has driven up the prices of grains, cooking oils, fuel and fertilizers. Russia, for its part, believes that the current situation is the result of Western sanctions once morest it.
France and Germany demand the lifting of the blockade of Odessa
In a press release published following a meeting between Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Russian President Vladimir Putin, Paris and Berlin say they “have taken note of the Russian President’s promise to grant ships access to the port for the export of cereals without it being exploited militarily by Russia if it was previously cleared”.
Emmanuel Macron and Olaf Scholz have also reaffirmed that any solution to the war must be negotiated between Moscow and kyiv, with respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday that the town of Lyman in eastern Ukraine was now under full control of Russian forces and pro-Russian separatists, a day following another town was taken Ukrainian, Sievierodonetsk. Paris and Berlin have also demanded the release of some 2,500 defenders of the Azovstal metallurgical plant in Mariupol, who were taken as prisoners of war by Russian forces.
