Putin promises free grain to six African nations after collapse of Black Sea deal

Workers load grain at a port in Izmail, Ukraine, on 26 April 2023. Vladimir Putin has promised to export grain to six African nations in place of the blockaded Ukrainian supplies. Photograph: Andrew Kravchenko/AP

Vladimir Putin has promised free grain supplies to six African nations as Moscow seeks to capitalise on the collapse of the Black Sea grain deal.

Speaking on the first day of a Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg, the Russian president claimed his country would be able to replace Ukrainian grain exports blocked by Moscow’s decision to abandon the UN-brokered arrangement which had allowed the export of grain and other products from Ukraine through the Black Sea to markets, many of them in Africa.