MOSCOW, RUSSIA — The Russian government on Feb. 20 claimed to have kept its promise to ship 200,000 tonnes of free grain to six African countries, Reuters reported, citing a transcript of a meeting between Russian Agriculture Minister Dmitry Patrushev and Russian President Vladimir Putin that was posted on the Kremlin’s website.

During a summit with African leaders in July 2023, shortly after Russia withdrew from the Black Sea Grain Initiative with Ukraine, Putin vowed to send the free grain to Maili, Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Somalia, Eritrea and the Central African Republic.

Putin said at the time that one of the reasons Russia withdrew from the grain deal was that the initiative, which had allowed Ukraine to export grain via the Black Sea despite the ongoing war between the two countries, was failing to ship grain to the countries that needed it most.

During his recent meeting with Putin, Reuters reported that Patrushev said: “After the Russia-Africa summit, we have been maintaining relations (with African countries and building cooperation). As a result, we were able to deliver this volume of wheat to these countries quite quickly.”

Feb. 22 is the two-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The conflict has hindered Ukraine’s ability to produce and export grain, causing a shift in trade flows for wheat, corn and other agricultural commodities. Prior to the war, Ukraine was among the world’s leading producers and exporters of corn, wheat, barley and sunflower oil.