Russian President Vladimir Putin talked over a call with the leaders of France and Germany that Russia is willing to seek ways to ship grain from Ukrainian ports, but the West must relax sanctions on Saturday.
The Kremlin chief also cautioned French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz against increasing armament shipments to Ukraine, stating that doing so could further destabilise the pro-Western nation.
The German chancellor’s office reported that the discussions lasted 80 minutes. Putin attributed the difficulty in providing grain to global markets to the “incorrect economic and financial policies of Western nations.”
Russia is willing to assist in identifying viable possibilities for the unimpeded export of grain, including the export of Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports.
A rise in the supply of Russian fertilisers and agricultural products would also aid in the reduction of tensions in the global food market, which will necessitate the relaxation of relevant sanctions.
Russia’s offensive in Ukraine and Western sanctions have interrupted shipments of fertiliser, wheat, and other commodities from the two nations, heightening fears of global shortages and famine. Russia and Ukraine produce 30% of the world’s wheat.
Macron and Scholz asked Russia to ease the blockade of the Ukrainian port of Odessa in order to allow grain exports. Both leaders have taken note of the Russian president’s vow to allow ships access to the port for grain exports without the facility being militarily exploited by Russia if it is first cleaned of mines.
Putin has been accused by the West of employing hunger as a weapon in Moscow’s war against Ukraine.
As Ukraine’s Western backers considered whether to provide additional weaponry supplies to Kyiv, Putin warned Macron and Scholz that continued arms shipments were “hazardous,” citing the potential of greater destabilisation and a worsening of the humanitarian disaster.
The sanctions against Russia and Western weaponry shipments to Ukraine were not mentioned in the French and German accounts of the phone conversation. Scholz and Macron both requested that Putin engage in “direct, serious conversations” with Volodymyr Zelensky, his Ukrainian counterpart.
The two EU leaders insisted on an early cease-fire and Russian army evacuation. The Kremlin stated that Moscow is willing to resume dialogue with Kyiv without addressing the idea of direct meetings between Putin and Zelensky. Since the Russian military offensive, talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegates have taken place in person and by video link, but they have recently stalled.
The French presidency noted that Macron and Scholz also asked Putin to release 2,500 Ukrainian combatants who had taken refuge in the Azovstal steel complex in Mariupol and ultimately surrendered to the Russian military. The French president and the German chancellor urged the release of some 2,500 Azovstal defenders taken prisoner by Russian forces.
