Putin says Moscow is ready to export grain and fertilizer if the West lifts its politically motivated sanctions.
Russia is ready to help by exporting grain and fertilizer if the West removes its politically motivated embargo, President Vladimir Putin told Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi during a phone call on Thursday.
According to the Kremlin's readout of the call, Putin said it was unreliable to accuse Russia of problems with agricultural products reaching global markets. The Russian president said that the situation was caused by disruptions in production and supply chains, as well as the financial policies of Western countries during the coronaviruses, which were only exacerbated by the anti-Russian restrictions imposed by the US and the EU over the conflict in Ukraine.
Russia is ready to make a significant contribution to overcoming the food crisis by exporting both fertilizer and grain if the Western embargo is lifted, Putin said.
Putin told Draghi that Russia has reopened the Azov Sea for maritime traffic and maintains a safe lane in the Black Sea for civilian shipping, which he said is being hindered by Kiev's government.
The call, which came at Draghi's request, follows reports in the Italian media that his government had proposed a peace plan for Ukraine. According to the daily La Repubblica, Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio sent a proposal for ending the hostilities to the UN last week. Neither the Russian Foreign Ministry nor the Kremlin have received any such proposal from Rome, according to their spokespersons.
The Russian gas exports were touched on by Putin as he reassured Draghi that Moscow will continue uninterrupted supplies of natural gas to Italy, at prices fixed by existing contracts.
Rome had previously rejected paying for gas in rubles and Draghi had campaigned for buying energy elsewhere, only to come around last week.