US claims majority of Ukraine grain went to Africa and other poor parts of the world

• Based on United Nations data, nearly 65% of Ukrainian grain went to Africa and world crisis hot spots, the United States claims.
• The US says it’s willing to assist Russia in its grievances on the Black Sea Initiative.
• Egypt and Tunisia are Africa’s two biggest importers of Ukrainian grain, according to the World Bank.

The United States has challenged Russia’s assertion that most of the grain that left Ukraine through the Black Sea Grain Initiative benefited the richest countries.

Speaking to a select group of African journalists last week, USAID’s deputy administrator for policy and programming, Isobel Coleman, and assistant administrator in the Bureau for Europe and Eurasia (E&E), Erin Elizabeth McKee said Russia was lying to the world.

“The Kremlin continues to spread lies about the Black Sea Grain Initiative while reaping record profits from exporting agricultural products,” said Coleman.

Ahead of and during the Russia-Africa Economic and Humanitarian Forum, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the West of using the deal to channel grain to parts of Europe while neglecting Africa and other poor parts of the world.

Addressing African heads of state in St Petersburg, Putin offered grain free of charge to countries such as Zimbabwe, Burkina Faso, Mali, Somalia, Eritrea, and the Central African Republic (CAR).

Russia had for some time threatened that it would pull out of the deal, which it eventually did on 17 July.

Some of Russia’s demands were for Moscow to also be allowed to supply Russian grain and fertilisers to world markets.

But Coleman said Russian agricultural products were not under sanctions.

READ | EXPLAINER: Why the Black Sea Grain Initiative is important for Africa

“Our sanctions do not target in any way trade or agricultural and food products between third countries and Russia,” she said.

US State Department sanctions coordinator ambassador James O’Brien said in a separate briefing that Russia was not being clear about its demands around the grain deal.

“The first point is that Russia needs to be clear about what it is asking for. It has put forth a number of different demands, all of them having to do with various Russian institutions not getting services from the private sector. And we have made clear that we’re prepared to help on any of these matters, but it’s not clear what Russia regards as success,” he said.

Putin claimed that less than 5% of grain went to crisis hotspots and fragile economies, most of them in Africa.

But the US claims that nearly two-thirds of the grain went to these areas. This was based on data provided by the United Nations.

“Nearly two-thirds of Ukraine’s wheat exports through the Black Sea Grain Initiative have gone to developing countries, and almost 20% have gone to the very least developed countries,” added Coleman.

World Bank figures indicate that China, which is Russia’s ally, was the biggest importer of Ukrainian grain. Egypt and Tunisia are the only African countries in the top 10. They imported 1.6 million metric tonnes and 0.7 million metric tonnes, respectively.

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