JABAR EKSPRES – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres revealed the donations Russian President Vladimir Putin has pledged to several African countries are not the same as the Black Sea food deal that helped address the global food crisis.

He warned that withdrawing millions of tons of wheat and other grains from the market would result in price hikes.

“Price increases will be a burden on everyone everywhere and especially developing countries and vulnerable people in middle-income, even developed countries,” Guterres said on Thursday (7/27) local time.

“So it’s not some aid to some countries,” he said. “We want this dramatic impact correction that affects everyone, everywhere.”

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Earlier, President Putin announced plans for Russia to supply food to six African countries.

Putin promised 25,000-50,000 tons of grain free of charge to Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, the Central African Republic and Eritrea in the next three to four months.

The move comes after Russia pulled out of the Black Sea food deal. The deal creates a corridor of safe shipping lanes for Ukraine’s food exports from its three Black Sea ports to world markets.

Since its conclusion in April 2021, the deal has helped control soaring prices and ease the global food crisis by restoring supplies of wheat, sunflower oil, fertilizer, and other products from Ukraine, which is one of the world’s top exporters of these types of food.

Russia does not want to extend the agreement beyond July 17, 2023, saying parts of its demands in the deal have so far not been realized.

Russia’s demands include removing barriers to Russian fertilizer exports and including the Russian Agricultural Bank in the SWIFT international payment system.