Moscow: Moscow is ready to make a “significant contribution” to prevent the towering food crisis if the West lifts the sanctions imposed on Russia over Ukraine, President Vladimir Putin said in a telephone call with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.
“Vladimir Putin stressed that the Russian federation is ready to make a significant contribution to overcoming the food crisis through seed exports and fertilizers, subject to revocation of political motivated restrictions by the West,” Kremlin said in a statement after the call.
He added that Putin also talked about “steps taken to ensure the safety of navigation, including the daily opening of the humanitarian corridor for the release of civil ships from the Port of Azov and the Black Sea, which were hampered by the Ukraine”.
Putin also described as a “untowsed” accusation that Russia must be blamed for problems with food supplies in the global market.
Draghi told the press conference that “The purpose of this phone call is to ask whether something can be done to unblock wheat that is now in the Depot in Ukraine”.
He suggested “Collaboration between Russia and Ukraine in the cancellation of the Black Sea Port” where wheat, which is at risk of rotting, “on the one hand to clean these ports and on the other hand to ensure that there are no clashes during the clearing”.
Draghi said there was “readiness to continue in this direction” on the Russian side, and that he would call Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky “to see if there was the same readiness”.
“When asked if I had seen a glimmer of hope for peace, the answer was not,” said the Prime Minister of Italy.
Russia was slapped with unprecedented sanctions after Putin ordered troops to Ukraine neighbors on February 24.
Military sanctions and actions have disrupted the supply of fertilizer, wheat and other commodities from Russia and Ukraine.