Russian President Vladimir Putin denies Moscow blocking Ukraine’s grain export, saying such accusations are a “bluff” while interviewing with the state television channel Russia 1.
“This is a bluff. And I will explain why. The world produces about 800 million tons of wheat per year. We are told that Ukraine is ready to export 20 million tons. It’s only 2.5%”, the 69-year-old said.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began on February 24, there are reports of silos being filled with grain in the war-torn nation. However, Russian blockades have made exporting this grain rather difficult as Ukraine has been scrambling to set up efficient alternate routes.
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“We do not prevent the export of Ukrainian grain. It can be exported through ports that are under the control of Ukraine”, Putin continued.
However, there aren’t many ports operational in Ukraine, except for smaller ones like Izium. Russia has already taken control of the major Black Sea ports, which were earlier crucial in Ukraine’s export routes. With the fall of Mariupol, the Azov Sea is in Moscow’s control now as well. Ukraine has been forced to consider alternate routes to get its grains out, which includes assistance from the European Union (EU).
“But we did not mine the approaches to the ports! Ukraine did. I have already said many times: let them clear the mines and let ships with grain go out”, Putin said, adding, “We guarantee their passage without any problems.”
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However, a couple of days earlier, Russia had noted that Ukraine would be allowed to export its grain if the sanctions against Moscow were lifted.
Putin, in his interview, added that Russia was looking to increase grain exports to 50 million tons in 2022-2023.
He concluded, “In the current agricultural year 2021-2022, we will export 37 million tons of grain, and for 2022-2023, I think we will raise this export to 50 million tons”.
