Mali intends to take trade cooperation with Russia to a new level, said Foreign Minister Mali Abdoulaye Diop.
On Friday, negotiations were held between the Foreign Minister of Mali and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia Sergey Lavrov, during which the supplies of wheat, mineral fertilizers and oil products from Russia to the African country were discussed.
“I came to Moscow at the head of an important ministerial delegation, which also included the Minister of Economy and Finance, the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure and the Minister of Energy and Water Supply. The main purpose of the visit is to ensure cooperation with Russia in new areas. Security cooperation has already been established and is developing well, now we need to strengthen the economic and trade partnership, said the Malian Minister of Foreign Affairs.
“We would like to find ways to stimulate trade, supply Mali with the necessary commodities, such as wheat, fertilizers, petroleum products, cement — all of this is difficult for us now. We would like to work on ensuring the supply of these categories of goods from Russia to Mali, ”he explained.
Abdoulaye Diop emphasized that due to the negative effects of the sanctions imposed on Mali by the countries of West Africa and the European Union and the threat of a food crisis caused by the situation in Ukraine, the leadership of Mali had to turn to Russia for state aid.
«We must protect our country and our people to secure access to these strategic resources. Usually these transactions are carried out by private companies, but we are taking our cooperation to the national level because these categories — wheat, fuel and fertilizers — are strategic. when the price of bread rises in the country, it may cause anxiety, so we asked for help from Russia and we are pleased with the agreements we have achieved in Moscow, he said.
Earlier, Russia’s Ambassador General, Oleg Ozerov, told RIA Novosti that a number of African countries have turned to Moscow for help with fertilizer and food supplies.
A number of Western countries have introduced several packages of sanctions against the Russian Federation in connection with the situation in Ukraine. Deputy chairman of the Security Council of Russia Dmitry Medvedev, speaking about the effects of the sanctions against the Russian Federation, said that they would lead to a fully-fledged international food crisis with the prospect of starvation in individual countries.
As the official representative of the UN World Food Program, Thomson Peary, said earlier, the situation in Ukraine may lead to higher food prices and world hunger. He noted that the Black Sea basin is one of the most important regions for the production of cereals and agricultural products, Ukraine and Russia account for 30% of world wheat exports, 20% of world corn exports and 76% of sunflower supplies, so any interruptions in production or supply may lead to price increases, reports RIA Novosti.
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