04:58Eswatini: Governments to send joint UN request for expedited delivery of Russian fertilisers blocked by EU - Lavrov
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reported that the Russian and Eswatini governments would send a request to the United Nations calling for accelerated delivery of fertilisers blocked by EU ports, during a working meeting with his counterpart Thuli Dladla in Mbabane on Tuesday.
Lavrov also claimed that UN Secretary-General António Guterres had advocated unhindered supplies of Russian grain and fertilisers to world markets.
"The government of Eswatini and our government will address him with a specific request to promptly resolve the issue of using some of the Russian fertilisers detained in European Union ports for the needs of the people of Eswatini on a no-cost basis. Once again I will emphasise, because this fertiliser is available for free," the foreign minister stated.
For her part, Thuli Dladla noted that Eswatini was now "free to grow Russian grain".
"This will assist us in the era of a long-term supply of grain for domestic [consumption] and also for export, and could also be a small hub, I would say, a big hub for the SADC [Southern African Development Community] countries and beyond," she said.
In November 2022, Russian and Turkish leaders Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to ship grain to African countries facing a food crisis free of charge.
Turkey and the UN mediated the export of Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports, and the export of Russian agricultural products, as part of the Istanbul agreements signed on July 22, 2022.
Turkey’s Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoglu claimed that more than 15 million tonnes of grain had been exported from Ukrainian ports by the end of December, with 12 per cent of this amount goingt to African countries.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also proposed an initiative funding subsidised grain to Africa at the November G20 meeting, with up to 60 grain ships to be sent to poorer countries.
04:58Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reported that the Russian and Eswatini governments would send a request to the United Nations calling for accelerated delivery of fertilisers blocked by EU ports, during a working meeting with his counterpart Thuli Dladla in Mbabane on Tuesday.
Lavrov also claimed that UN Secretary-General António Guterres had advocated unhindered supplies of Russian grain and fertilisers to world markets.
"The government of Eswatini and our government will address him with a specific request to promptly resolve the issue of using some of the Russian fertilisers detained in European Union ports for the needs of the people of Eswatini on a no-cost basis. Once again I will emphasise, because this fertiliser is available for free," the foreign minister stated.
For her part, Thuli Dladla noted that Eswatini was now "free to grow Russian grain".
"This will assist us in the era of a long-term supply of grain for domestic [consumption] and also for export, and could also be a small hub, I would say, a big hub for the SADC [Southern African Development Community] countries and beyond," she said.
In November 2022, Russian and Turkish leaders Vladimir Putin and Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to ship grain to African countries facing a food crisis free of charge.
Turkey and the UN mediated the export of Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports, and the export of Russian agricultural products, as part of the Istanbul agreements signed on July 22, 2022.
Turkey’s Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Adil Karaismailoglu claimed that more than 15 million tonnes of grain had been exported from Ukrainian ports by the end of December, with 12 per cent of this amount goingt to African countries.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also proposed an initiative funding subsidised grain to Africa at the November G20 meeting, with up to 60 grain ships to be sent to poorer countries.