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MOSCOW. – Russian President Vladimir Putin has confirmed the country’s readiness to provide a significant grain volume to the poorest countries free of charge in a telephone conversation with Indonesian President Joko Widodo, the Kremlin’s press service said yesterday.

“In the context of supporting the global food security, Mr Vladimir Putin stated the fundamental Russian approaches towards implementation of Istanbul package agreements pertaining to Ukrainian grain export from Black Sea ports and unblocking of Russian agricultural produce and fertilizers exports to global markets,” the Kremlin said.

The Russian president also noted readiness of the country to provide significant grain volumes to the poorest countries free of charge as the humanitarian aid, the Kremlin’s press service added.

“Joko Widodo supported such an approach,” the Kremlin noted.

Mr Putin also informed his Indonesian counterpart about the situation evolved in consequence of the marine humanitarian corridor use by the Kiev regime for the sabotage action against the infrastructure and ships of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol and that the Russian side resumes implementation of the grain deal after the receipt of required guarantees from Ukraine regarding the non-use of the humanitarian route for military purposes.

Thanks to the participation of the United Nations and the assistance of Türkiye, the joint coordination centre for the implementation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative on Tuesday received a written guarantee from Ukraine of not using the shipping route defined in the deal and Ukrainian ports designated for grain export to conduct military operations against Russia, the Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement.

The Ukrainian side officially assured that the maritime humanitarian corridor will be used only in accordance with the provisions of the grain export deal and related regulations of the joint coordination centre.

As the Ukrainian guarantee “appears to be sufficient,” the Russian side has decided to resume the implementation of the grain export deal, the ministry said.

Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov yesterday welcomed the resumption of the deal.

“The best way to understand the meaning of the Black Sea Grain Initiative for the world is to look at the market reaction after an announcement on stabilization of the initiative. Here is the total falling price on wheat and corn,” Kubrakov tweeted.

On July 22, Russia and Ukraine separately signed a document in Istanbul with Türkiye and the United Nations on grain and fertilizer exports from Ukraine and Russia to ensure supplies to global markets amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

On Saturday, Russia announced the decision to immediately and indefinitely suspend its implementation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, accusing Ukraine of launching drone attacks against the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s ships and infrastructure at the naval base in Sevastopol.

On the same day, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba accused Moscow of using a “false pretext” to suspend its participation in the Black Sea grain corridor. – TASS and Xinhua