Zelenskyy: African countries begin opening their eyes after Russia blocks grain export

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that African countries have begun to change their attitude towards Russia and are supporting Ukraine after Russia blocked grain exports from the ports of the Black Sea.

Source: Zelenskyy during a conversation with the student community of Ireland, the President's website reports

Quote: "Today, gradually, country by country, the states of the African continent are beginning to understand what happened. That they were misinformed. That Russia is really an aggressor, that it does not respect freedom, does not support life, but does the opposite. Several countries on the African continent have started to support us, and we can see this from the results of voting on resolutions."

"African countries have seen how Russia has absolutely shamefully blocked [shipments from -ed.] the Black Sea. It blocked the supply of grain – wheat, corn – from Ukraine to the African continent... And when countries began to see this, when the societies of some countries began to feel it, then they began to wake up and smell the coffee."

Details: Zelenskyy recalled the results of voting for the UN General Assembly resolution on supporting the territorial integrity of Ukraine and condemning Russia's aggression against Ukraine. The resolution was supported by more than 140 states, including African countries.

He also noted that some African countries for the first time demonstrated support at the Crimean platform, whose work is aimed at the liberation of Crimea.

However, as the president said, there are still some African countries whose government leaders do not see either Russia's destructive actions or the assistance provided by Ukraine, though the latter has initiated programmes to support states suffering from food crises. According to Zelenskyy, the reason for this is the powerful influence of Russian propaganda and disinformation that has been spread on the African continent for the past 30 years.

The president noted that one of the key tasks now for Ukraine and for him personally is to unite the whole world, including African countries, to put pressure on Russia to stop its aggression on Ukrainian territory.

Background:

• During the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia blocked the exit of ships from Ukrainian ports that were carrying grain, in particular, to the world's poorest countries. According to the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, 323 million people are on the verge of starvation due to the Russian-Ukrainian war.
• On 22 July, a grain export agreement was signed in Istanbul, which was supposed to be in force until 19 November. It provides for unblocking the operation of three Ukrainian ports for the export of Ukrainian food: the ports of Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi. 
• Russia has been slowing down the work of the grain initiative since October, and at the end of the month it "suspended its implementation". After the return of the Russians to the work of the grain initiative, the number of vessels inspected fell to 8-9 per day, although during the full implementation of the agreement by UN and Turkish inspectors, the number of vessels checked reached 46.
• On 17 November, Istanbul agreed to the continuation of the grain corridor for the export of food from 3 Ukrainian seaports for another 120 days.

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