South African President calls on Putin to resume Black Sea Grain Initiative

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has called on the Russian President to resume the operation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative at a meeting of African leaders with Vladimir Putin on the war in Ukraine.

Source: a statement by Ramaphosa shared by the Kremlin’s website

Quote: "As we listened to your [Putin's – ed.] speech today, when you were responding to some elements of our proposals, we noted the following. In particular, you were talking about grain. We proposed to implement the Black Sea Grain Initiative, we talked about the need to open the Black Sea, we said that we would like the Black Sea to be open to world markets."

Details: The South African president also said that African leaders "did not come here to ask for any 'gifts' for the African continent".

"We understand, of course, that out of generosity you have decided to provide free grain to some African countries that are facing certain difficulties. We have great respect for that, and we are noting that. However, this is not our main goal here, it is not our main task to achieve any supplies of this nature," Ramaphosa said.

Background: On 28 July, the African Union called for the immediate resumption of the UN-brokered agreement allowing Ukraine to export millions of tonnes of grain, which was suspended on Russia's orders.

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