08:46President Vladimir Putin said that Russia and 'the poorest countries have been cheated, simply duped' on the grain deal to unblock the Black Sea ports, during a plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) on Russky Island, Primorsky, on Wednesday.
"And all this pressure, which was put on us by our quasi-partners and our geopolitical opponents, was based on Russia's call to ensure the interests of the poorest economies and not to allow hunger in these countries. And we, of course, have done everything in order to put together these agreements, we adhere to them, we provide everything. It turned out that once again we were, as the people say, simply duped. And not only us, but also the poorest countries under the pretext of securing their interests," Putin said.
The Russian president also stressed that countries must join forces to stabilise prices in the grain market.
"We will insist that all this activity with the export of grain and our food is primarily aimed at a positive impact on the food world markets, so that the price will go down. It has stabilised there a little bit, but nevertheless the trend is still up, and, according to international organisations, the price of food will still grow. So we need to combine our efforts in order to reverse this trend," Putin concluded.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky used his daily address to call the claims 'blatantly false'.
"By the end of this month, at least three million tonnes of agricultural products can be exported from our seaports. And a significant part is for the poorest and most needy countries. In particular, the first cargo was delivered to Ethiopia. The route was not easy: first by sea, then by trucks. But hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians are actually being saved from starvation," he said.
"Unlike Russia, we do not make a racist division of the world into those who deserve security and those who supposedly do not, into those who deserve to live without famine and those who supposedly do not. We support all people, all countries," the politician added.
Representatives of Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN signed two agreements in Istanbul on Friday, 22 July: on sea shipments of Ukrainian grain and on exports of Russian agricultural products.
The 120-day agreement on Ukrainian grain exports, providing for an extension, includes an agreement to export food via the Black Sea from three ports - Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny.
Meanwhile, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan used the plenary session to express hope for Russia's help in resolving relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan.
"We hope to establish relations with Turkey with Russia's support. There is an intensive conversation with Azerbaijan regarding the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. In this context, we also hope for the support of the Russian Federation not only as a strategic ally of the Republic of Armenia, but the Russian Federation is also a very close partner for Azerbaijan. This opens up some opportunities, I think. But I also want to emphasise the role of the Russian Federation as the co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, which deals with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem," Pashinyan said.
The Eastern Economic Forum opened in Vladivostok at the campus of the Far Eastern State University on September 5. The event continues until September 8 and includes more than 90 meetings and discussions.
Russia: 'We and the poorest countries have been cheated, simply duped' - Putin on grain deal
President Vladimir Putin said that Russia and 'the poorest countries have been cheated, simply duped' on the grain deal to unblock the Black Sea ports, during a plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) on Russky Island, Primorsky, on Wednesday.
"And all this pressure, which was put on us by our quasi-partners and our geopolitical opponents, was based on Russia's call to ensure the interests of the poorest economies and not to allow hunger in these countries. And we, of course, have done everything in order to put together these agreements, we adhere to them, we provide everything. It turned out that once again we were, as the people say, simply duped. And not only us, but also the poorest countries under the pretext of securing their interests," Putin said.
The Russian president also stressed that countries must join forces to stabilise prices in the grain market.
"We will insist that all this activity with the export of grain and our food is primarily aimed at a positive impact on the food world markets, so that the price will go down. It has stabilised there a little bit, but nevertheless the trend is still up, and, according to international organisations, the price of food will still grow. So we need to combine our efforts in order to reverse this trend," Putin concluded.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky used his daily address to call the claims 'blatantly false'.
"By the end of this month, at least three million tonnes of agricultural products can be exported from our seaports. And a significant part is for the poorest and most needy countries. In particular, the first cargo was delivered to Ethiopia. The route was not easy: first by sea, then by trucks. But hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians are actually being saved from starvation," he said.
"Unlike Russia, we do not make a racist division of the world into those who deserve security and those who supposedly do not, into those who deserve to live without famine and those who supposedly do not. We support all people, all countries," the politician added.
Representatives of Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN signed two agreements in Istanbul on Friday, 22 July: on sea shipments of Ukrainian grain and on exports of Russian agricultural products.
The 120-day agreement on Ukrainian grain exports, providing for an extension, includes an agreement to export food via the Black Sea from three ports - Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny.
Meanwhile, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan used the plenary session to express hope for Russia's help in resolving relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan.
"We hope to establish relations with Turkey with Russia's support. There is an intensive conversation with Azerbaijan regarding the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. In this context, we also hope for the support of the Russian Federation not only as a strategic ally of the Republic of Armenia, but the Russian Federation is also a very close partner for Azerbaijan. This opens up some opportunities, I think. But I also want to emphasise the role of the Russian Federation as the co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, which deals with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem," Pashinyan said.
The Eastern Economic Forum opened in Vladivostok at the campus of the Far Eastern State University on September 5. The event continues until September 8 and includes more than 90 meetings and discussions.
President Vladimir Putin said that Russia and 'the poorest countries have been cheated, simply duped' on the grain deal to unblock the Black Sea ports, during a plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) on Russky Island, Primorsky, on Wednesday.
"And all this pressure, which was put on us by our quasi-partners and our geopolitical opponents, was based on Russia's call to ensure the interests of the poorest economies and not to allow hunger in these countries. And we, of course, have done everything in order to put together these agreements, we adhere to them, we provide everything. It turned out that once again we were, as the people say, simply duped. And not only us, but also the poorest countries under the pretext of securing their interests," Putin said.
The Russian president also stressed that countries must join forces to stabilise prices in the grain market.
"We will insist that all this activity with the export of grain and our food is primarily aimed at a positive impact on the food world markets, so that the price will go down. It has stabilised there a little bit, but nevertheless the trend is still up, and, according to international organisations, the price of food will still grow. So we need to combine our efforts in order to reverse this trend," Putin concluded.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky used his daily address to call the claims 'blatantly false'.
"By the end of this month, at least three million tonnes of agricultural products can be exported from our seaports. And a significant part is for the poorest and most needy countries. In particular, the first cargo was delivered to Ethiopia. The route was not easy: first by sea, then by trucks. But hundreds of thousands of Ethiopians are actually being saved from starvation," he said.
"Unlike Russia, we do not make a racist division of the world into those who deserve security and those who supposedly do not, into those who deserve to live without famine and those who supposedly do not. We support all people, all countries," the politician added.
Representatives of Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN signed two agreements in Istanbul on Friday, 22 July: on sea shipments of Ukrainian grain and on exports of Russian agricultural products.
The 120-day agreement on Ukrainian grain exports, providing for an extension, includes an agreement to export food via the Black Sea from three ports - Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny.
Meanwhile, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan used the plenary session to express hope for Russia's help in resolving relations with Turkey and Azerbaijan.
"We hope to establish relations with Turkey with Russia's support. There is an intensive conversation with Azerbaijan regarding the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. In this context, we also hope for the support of the Russian Federation not only as a strategic ally of the Republic of Armenia, but the Russian Federation is also a very close partner for Azerbaijan. This opens up some opportunities, I think. But I also want to emphasise the role of the Russian Federation as the co-chair of the OSCE Minsk Group, which deals with the settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh problem," Pashinyan said.
The Eastern Economic Forum opened in Vladivostok at the campus of the Far Eastern State University on September 5. The event continues until September 8 and includes more than 90 meetings and discussions.