Sergei Karpukh/Reuters
- Russia is sending free grain to its allies in Africa.
- Putin vowed to ship grain to Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Eritrea, Mali, Somalia, and Zimbabwe this week.
- That comes shortly after Russia attacked a key Ukrainian port, which sent wheat prices soaring.
Russia is working to cement ties with its African allies, with President Vladimir Putin promising free grain to six African countries this week.
Russia will ship 25,000-50,000 tons of grain each to Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Eritrea, Mali, Somalia, and Zimbabwe, Putin said at the St. Petersburg Russia-Africa summit on Thursday.
The proposed donations appear to be a reward for Russia's close African allies, particularly as wheat prices rise. Most nations on the receiving end of shipments are on good terms with Moscow, as many have held back from criticizing Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Zimbabwe president Emmerson Mnangagwa said the nation was grateful for the gift, though he noted Zimbabwe is "not in any grain deficit at all," Reuters reported.
Meanwhile, African countries that are currently experiencing a food crisis, such as Sudan and Chad, were excluded from Russia's list of recipients.
Russia's gifts come amid a surge in wheat prices, with soft-red winter wheat futures spiking 8% and hard-red wheat spiking 5% last week after Russia exited Black Sea Grain Initiative and bombed the port of Odesa, impacting key Ukrainian grain facilities.
At the summit, Putin defended Russia's withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain deal, arguing that the deal wasn't delivering supplies to countries in the most need.
Meanwhile, Russia has threatened to attack ships headed into the area, on the basis that they could be carrying weapons.
Russia's actions could easily spark a global food crisis, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned, given the world's reliance on Ukrainian grain. Ukraine is the world's seventh-largest wheat producer, UN data shows, with the country often being referred to as the "breadbasket of Europe."