The president of Russia, Vladimir Putin on Tuesday has said that his country expected a record-high grain harvest in 2022 as Russia accused Western sanctions over Ukraine for stopping its exports, especially to poor nations.
President Putin said that, “The preliminary estimate (for 2022) already stands at 150 million tons, including 100 million tons of wheat. This will be a record in the Russian history.”
As per Putin, “138.7 million tons of grain have already been harvested.”
Moscow has for several weeks blamed Western nations of hindering its exports of agricultural products, insisting the situation creates a threat of global food security.
Putin mentioned that, “The delivery of our grain and our fertilizer abroad unfortunately remains… difficult.”
He added that, “Sanctions against Russia risk leading to a further deterioration of the situation, to a global food crisis.”
President Putin has repeatedly criticized an agreement reached in July in Istanbul, which has lifted a blockade on export of grain from Ukraine.
Moreover, one of the world’s largest grain exporters, Ukraine was forced to stop almost all deliveries after Moscow called to invade Ukraine.
Putin insists the grain is primarily going to EU nations, rather than poorer nations.
Putin mentioned that, “Grain from Ukraine continues to bypass the poorest nations.”
“As of September 23, out of 203 vessels that left the ports of Ukraine, only four went to the poorest countries under the United Nations program.”
Ukraine & European countries have refuted these accusations.