Putin says Ukrainian grain exports are not solving global food crisis

Exports of Ukrainian grain under a deal ensuring its safe passage through the Black Sea are not helping to resolve Africa's problems with high global food prices as only 3% have gone to the poorest countries, Russian President Vladimir Putin told African leaders on Saturday.

Putin said the food crisis had been caused by the actions of Western countries, not by what Russia calls a "special military operation" in Ukraine.

The leaders from South Africa, Senegal, Egypt, Zambia, Uganda, Congo Republic and the Comoro islands were meeting Putin at the government's 18th-century Konstantinovsky Palace in the hope of mediating in the conflict with Ukraine, after visiting Kyiv on Friday.

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