Tokayev urged to withdraw food and fertilizers from any sanctions

Food and fertilizers should be removed from any sanctions to improve food security, declared President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev at a meeting of the Dialogue of Heads of State in the BRICS Plus format.

“It is necessary to take adequate measures to reduce the food imbalance in our countries. We must depoliticize the global supply of food and fertilizers and exclude them from the impact of any sanctions and restrictions,” Tokayev’s press service quoted him as saying.

The Kazakh President also drew attention to the fact that BRICS members are three of the world’s four largest food producers, and the total agricultural GDP of the BRICS countries exceeded 50% of the global one.

Earlier today Russian President Vladimir Putin informedthat in the coming months Russia will allocate 25,000-50,000 tons of grain to six African countries as a priority humanitarian aid and deliver it free of charge.

On July 17, the Foreign Ministry announced that Russia was withdrawing from the grain deal. Moscow expressed its intention to return to the agreement as soon as its conditions are met, prescribed in the second part of the grain agreement, which has not been implemented. Today Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Moscow does not see the readiness of the West to fulfill its conditions for the resumption of the grain deal.

On August 3, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that if Moscow were to return to the grain deal, Washington would “continue to do whatever is necessary” to export food. In response, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the United States should facilitate the implementation of the grain deal, and not promise to “think about it.”