Putin lying about grain deal, figures announced not true — Ukraine's Foreign Ministry

Russian dictator Vladimir Putin is lying when he says that supposedly only 3% of the products within the grain agreement is supplied from Ukraine to Africa, said the speaker of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Oleg Nikolenko.

The diplomat noted that Putin stated that he "insists" on the full implementation of the grain deal, so that the products are not sent to "well-fed countries". The Russian dictator said that in total, allegedly 45% of grain was delivered to European countries and only 3% to Africa.

"Russia does not stop trying to undermine the Black Sea Grain Initiative. The mentioned statistics do not correspond to reality," Dmytro Kuleba's office replied.

Nikolenko emphasized that since August 1, 2022, Ukraine exported 25.1 million tons of agricultural products to 45 countries of the world through the grain corridor:

- to Africa – 2.9 million tons (11.6%);

- to Asia – 12.1 million tons (48.2%);

- to Europe – 10.1 million tons (40.2%).

"Russia is also well aware that part of the Ukrainian grain purchased by the 'well-fed countries' of Europe is sent as a humanitarian re-export to Africa and Asia. Therefore, the real statistics of exports to the African continent are even higher than 11.6%. Not to mention that almost 50% of products go to support Asian countries," Nikolenko stressed.

He stated that the grain corridor saves millions of people in the world from malnutrition and hunger, and the international community — primarily African and Asian countries — should not allow Moscow to use food as a weapon.

• The grain corridor, created through the mediation of the UN and Turkey in July 2022, allowed the export of grain from three Ukrainian ports — Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi. The agreement was extended in November for 120 days. On March 18, it was prolonged for another 120 days .
• At the end of February, Deputy Minister of Infrastructure Yuriy Vaskov said that Ukraine will offer Turkey and the UN to extend the Black Sea Grain Initiative for one year and expand it to Mykolaiv.