Russian President Vladimir Putin revealed on Monday that Russia is on the verge of providing free grain to six African nations.
This comes after the termination of a deal that permitted Ukrainian food exports via the Black Sea.
During a press conference with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the Black Sea city of Sochi, Putin made this announcement following an overnight attack on one of Ukraine’s major grain-exporting centers by Russian forces using attack drones.
Erdogan informed Putin that Turkey and the United Nations had devised new proposals to address Russia’s concerns regarding the agreement and expressed hopes for a practical solution soon.
However, Putin emphasized that Russia would only consider rejoining the landmark agreement when its conditions were met.
Instead, he outlined the plan for grain shipments to Africa, stating, “We are close to finalizing agreements with six African nations, where we intend to provide food supplies for free, including delivery and logistics, all free of charge. Deliveries will commence in the next couple of weeks.”
The UN and Turkey-brokered agreement, designed to ensure safe passage for civilian ships through the Black Sea, fell apart after Russia withdrew from it in July.
Since then, tensions have escalated in the region, with Russia launching attacks on Ukrainian export facilities and Kyiv’s forces targeting Moscow’s naval ports and warships.
Earlier on Monday, Russia announced the destruction of four US-made Ukrainian military boats carrying troops in the Black Sea en route to the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014.
In Sochi, Erdogan stressed that there was no alternative to the original grain deal and that Ankara was collaborating with the United Nations to address Russia’s complaints, particularly its assertion that Western sanctions were obstructing its fertilizer exports.
Erdogan stated, “We have prepared a new proposal package in consultation with the UN. I believe that results can be achieved.
I am optimistic that a solution meeting Turkey’s expectations will be reached soon.”
Since the collapse of the deal, Moscow has repeatedly targeted Ukrainian ports, with Kyiv alleging that these actions are a cynical attempt to damage its exports and undermine global food security.
The drone attack on Monday struck a grain export center on the Danube River, according to Ukrainian officials, causing damage to warehouses and agricultural equipment.
Regional Governor Oleg Kiper reported that air defense systems successfully downed 17 drones.
Ukraine’s foreign ministry claimed that some of the drones from the attack had fallen on Romanian territory, although Bucharest denied this claim emphatically.
While most of the conflict during Russia’s offensive has occurred within Ukraine’s borders, Kyiv has occasionally asserted that Russian munitions have landed in European nations, a claim largely dismissed by its NATO allies.
The Romanian defense ministry stated, “At no time did the means of attack used by the Russian Federation pose a direct military threat to Romania’s national territory or territorial waters.”
On the subject of the drone attack, Ukraine’s military revealed that Russia employed Iranian-made Shahed drones during this “massive” overnight assault.
This came a day after Ukraine successfully defended against a series of Russian drone attacks in the same region, with Moscow’s military claiming that the targets were fuel storage facilities in the nearby port of Reni.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov announced his resignation to parliament on Monday following President Volodymyr Zelensky’s call for “new approaches” in response to Russia’s offensive.
Zelensky’s decision came in the wake of several corruption scandals within the defense ministry, accompanied by the removal of senior military recruitment officials throughout the country.
Reznikov remarked, “It has been an honor to serve the Ukrainian people and work for the Ukrainian army during the last 22 challenging months, which represent Ukraine’s most difficult period in modern history.”
His departure coincides with a closely watched Ukrainian counteroffensive in the southern and eastern regions of the country.
Officials reported on Monday that progress in this operation had been limited.
However, Putin, speaking in Sochi on Monday, asserted that the counteroffensive to reclaim Ukrainian territory lost to Moscow had ultimately failed.
He stated, “It’s not just a stall; it’s a failure, at least as it stands today.
We’ll see what happens next.”
Ukraine’s Deputy Defence Minister Ganna Malyar had previously noted on Monday that Russian forces were “on the defensive in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson sectors,” referring to two southern regions Moscow claimed to have annexed last year.
She also mentioned that Ukrainian forces had reclaimed an area of approximately three square kilometers (around one square mile) near Bakhmut, a town in the east that Russia had captured in May.
