Palestinians Count On Continued Deliveries Of Russian Wheat - Top Diplomat

Palestinians Count on Continued Deliveries of Russian Wheat - Top Diplomat

RAMALLAH (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th February, 2023) Palestinians continue to rely on Russia for wheat deliveries after seeing the commodity's price double in global markets last year, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Maliki told Sputnik.

Grain prices soared in response to the conflict in Ukraine and Western curbs on Russian trade, raising bread costs all over the world and prompting fears of food shortages in poorer countries. Russia, the world's largest wheat exporter, promised to continue shipping grain to the middle East and Africa, even as the West is impeding logistics operations.

"We do still need wheat... And obviously we used to buy it from Russia and we continue asking our friends in Russia to provide us with such amount in order to cover the expected needs of our Palestinian people here," the Palestinian diplomat said in an interview.

Russian President Vladimir Putin assured Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas during an in-person meeting in Kazakhstan last October that Moscow would address wheat deliveries to Palestinians.

Talks have been ongoing between the two nations, al-Maliki said, including through the Palestinian embassy in Moscow and the joint economic committee, which met virtually several months ago.

"I'm really certain that our request has been taken very seriously and it's being discussed thoroughly by the corresponding Russian authorities in order to see how to address such requests and needs," the foreign minister said.

The European Union insists that its sanctions on a wide range of Russian exports do not cover grain directly, but its ban on providing insurance and other services to Russian maritime transport has disrupted its food and fertilizer exports, prompting Moscow to seek help from the United Nations.