Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) leaders' summit in Samarkand on September 16, 2022.
Speaking at a summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in Uzbekistan, the Russian leader said he had discussed agricultural export issues with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
"The day before yesterday I informed Mr. Guterres that 300,000 tons of Russian fertilizers had piled up in the European Union's seaports," Putin said, adding that Moscow is "ready to give them to developing countries for free," and that such deliveries would be instrumental in alleviating the global food crisis.
Comment: Well, alleviating food shortages in the nations that receive it, however those citizens in the West, who have allowed their pathological leadership to get away with these illegitimate sanctions, might find themselves increasingly hungry in the coming year.
In late July, Moscow and Kiev signed a deal unblocking Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea at UN-brokered talks in Istanbul. The agreement is also supposed to allow Russia to deliver fertilizers and food goods to global markets. However, Russian officials have repeatedly criticized the West for not honoring the deal.
While Putin welcomed the decision to allow Russian fertilizers into the EU, he criticized Brussels for only allowing the bloc's member states to buy them.
"It turns out that only they could purchase our fertilizers. What about the developing countries, the poorest countries of the world?" he asked.
Putin asked the UN Secretariat to leverage the EU Commission so that "not in words, but in deeds, [it] demands the removal of these discriminatory restrictions against developing countries" by allowing Russian fertilizers to reach emerging markets.
On Thursday, Russia's permanent representative to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said that the "illegal unilateral sanctions" the West has imposed on Moscow over the Ukraine conflict are still blocking the export of Russian food products and fertilizers to global markets despite earlier agreements.
He also accused EU officials of "selfishness, cynicism and hypocrisy" for prohibiting European carriers from transporting Russian fertilizers to Africa, Asia or Latin America, while allowing deliveries to EU countries.
Comment: Footage of the announcement:
Not only is the West rejecting desperately needed fertilizer, even that which it has might not make it to its destination on time: Strikes on US railways may force halt of grain and fertilizer shipments, further threatening food supply