Putin says Russia ready to satisfy fertiliser demand of Indonesia, other friendly nations

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Russia is ready to fully meet the fertilisers' demand of agricultural producers from “friendly countries”.  As the war in Ukraine lingers on, the Russian leader asserted that the Kremlin was ready to supply products like nitrogen, phosphate, and fertilisers inter alia. Notably, the US and its allies have accused Putin of creating a global hunger crisis by blocking Ukraine's grain exports. 

As per Kremlin, Putin’s remarks came in the aftermath of his meeting with Indonesian President Joko Widodo. The meeting between the two leaders is being deemed pivotal given the fact that Indonesia holds the rotating presidency of the G20 this year and is preparing to host a summit in Bali in November. Widodo, who has been neutral in his stance on the ongoing war in Ukraine, last week visited Kyiv wherein he held a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. 

Important to restore supply chains: Putin 

Elaborating on his conversation with Widodo, Putin said, “We talked on issues of interest for the time being for the whole world, all countries. I mean supplies of foodstuffs, and other agricultural goods, including mineral fertilisers, to global markets." He further asserted that the Russian Federation was ready to “fully satisfy” the demand of agricultural producers from Indonesia and other friendly states for nitrogen, phosphate, potash fertilisers and raw materials for their production. 

“We certainly intend to continue performing in good faith our contractual commitments on supplies of foodstuffs, fertilisers, along with energy resources and other critical goods," the President said. "This is exactly why it is critical to restore chains of supplies disrupted by sanctions", the Russian leader added. 

Notably, during his meeting with Widodo, Putin denied that his troops in Ukraine had blockaded the port of Odesa, and other major ports in the Black Sea, having earlier laid blame on Ukraine's military for mining the waters. “We do not prevent the export of Ukrainian grain. The Ukrainian military has mined the approaches to their ports, no one prevents them from clearing those mines and we guarantee the safety of shipping grain out of there,” Putin said at the conference. He once again blamed the Western sanctions for chaos in the global food market and inflation.

(Image: AP)