UK authorities react to criticism of Putin over grain deal

The British Ministry of Defense, in response to criticism from Russian President Vladimir Putin over the grain deal, said that the Russian side was “pursuing a deliberate strategy of disinformation.” This is stated in a post in Twitter departments.

Russia is pursuing a deliberate disinformation strategy to absolve itself of food security problems, discredit Ukraine and minimize opposition to its invasion.

The British Ministry of Defense claims, citing UN data, that about 30% of Ukrainian grain as part of the deal was delivered to low- and middle-income countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia.

September 10, Head of Sanctions Coordination at the US State Department Jim O’Brien declaredthat wheat supplies increase global supply, no matter where the grain goes. A State Department spokesman called the grain export discussion “misleading”.

Earlier, Vladimir Putin, speaking at the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum (WEF), said that only 2 ships from Ukraine out of 87 were sent to countries in need, while the rest were sent to European countries. According to him, only 60,000 out of 2 million tons of agricultural products were delivered to the ports of developing countries. He accused the Western states of deceit and called the situation with the export of grain from the blocked ports of Ukraine “another impudent deception” and “swindle”.

The next day, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed with Putin’s statement and confirmed that the grain does not really go to African countries, as was originally supposed, but to rich countries.

At an operational meeting with permanent members of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, the head of state said that now only 3% of Ukrainian grain is supplied to the poorest countries, and this volume should be increased.