(CNN) Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has arrived in the Republic of Congo, the second stop on his Africa tour, where he aims to drum up support amid global anger over food shortages following Moscow’s blockade of vital Ukrainian ports.
After visiting Egypt at the weekend, Lavrov will meet the Congolese leader on Monday before traveling to Uganda and Ethiopia. All these countries rely heavily on wheat imports from Russia and Ukraine.
Egypt is the world’s largest importer of wheat, and it depends on Ukraine and Russia for a supply to feed a 100 million strong population.
Ukraine and Russia agreed a deal on Friday that would allow the resumption of grain exports from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, a major diplomatic breakthrough to ease a global food crisis sparked by the war.
However, Russia’s attack on a key Ukrainian port a day later left the agreement hanging in the balance.
On Sunday, Moscow’s top diplomat met with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri. During that meeting, Lavrov blamed Ukraine for the stagnation in the negotiations on the “wide range of issues”.
Global food prices have risen by 17% since January, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Lavrov said during the talks with his Egyptian counterpart that the deal to free Ukraine’s ports will continue.
“It is guaranteed that the Ukrainians will clear their territorial waters and allow ships to leave there, and during their passage to the high seas, Russia and Turkey will ensure their security with their military naval forces,” Lavrov said.
‘Arsenal of terror’
Russia has been accused of using food as a weapon of war and European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said last week that food had become part of the Kremlin’s “terror arsenal”. To see also : Russia threatens Ukraine’s broad offensive as US pressures China over war stance.
“This is a cold, callous and calculated siege by Putin on some of the most vulnerable countries and people in the world … and we cannot tolerate it,” von der Leyen told EU lawmakers.
Lavrov, however, liked to deflect the responsibility for the lack from Moscow, instead to the West in a letter written on Friday for newspapers of the African countries and published by the Russian Foreign Ministry before his departure.
“Western and Ukrainian propaganda accusing Russia of allegedly ‘exporting hunger’ is completely baseless,” Lavrov wrote, calling them an attempt to shift responsibility.
Instead, he claimed that the “collective West” has monopolized goods and supply flows during the Covid-19 pandemic, worsening the situation for food imports in developing countries, which has been further aggravated by sanctions against Russia.
But it is in Africa that the food shortage bites. The United Nations has warned that up to 49 million people could be pushed into famine or famine-like conditions due to the devastating impact of the Ukraine war on global food supplies and prices,
Eritrea received all its wheat imports from Ukraine and Russia in 2021, according to a June 2022 report by the FAO. In Somalia, a country already suffering from extreme drought, saw a surge in malnutrition cases and at least a doubling of wheat prices.
Most African countries did not condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as they tried to maintain balance in their relations with Moscow and Western countries.
It is a position that Russia would like to protect and Lavrov is using the trip to highlight Moscow’s “long-standing” ties with the African continent and also to point out that Russia is not “stained by the bloody crimes of colonialism.”
In the letter, he praised the “balanced position” of African nations on what he called “events in and around Ukraine”, praising his “friends” for not joining anti-Russian sanctions despite “external pressure on an unprecedented scale”.
“Russia will continue in good faith its obligations according to international contracts in terms of exporting food, fertilizers, energy and other goods that are vital for Africa. and Africa: a partnership with a vision for the future.”
The letter was written on Friday for the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram, the Congolese newspaper Les Dépêches de Brazzaville, the Ugandan newspaper New Vision and the Ethiopian newspaper Ethiopia Herald.
CNN’s Alex Stambaugh, Ivana Kottasova, Nadeen Ebrahim all contributed reporting.
