African leaders fail to convince Putin to resume grain export deal

African leaders were disappointed in their efforts to get the grain export deal running once more (Pavel Bednyakov, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

African leaders have left two days of meetings with Russian president Vladimir Putin with little to show for their requests to resume a deal that kept grain flowing from Ukraine and to find a path to end the war there.

Mr Putin, in a press conference late on Saturday following the Russia-Africa summit, said Russia’s termination of the grain deal earlier this month caused a rise in grain prices that benefits Russian companies. He added that Moscow would share some of those revenues with the “poorest nations”.