A wheat field is pictured outside the Russian village of Karpenkovo, some 150 km from the city of Voronezh. AFP
“Let us compare Ukrainian crumbs with the amount of Russian bread on tables,” the Russian embassy in Egypt said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter on Saturday.
“From 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023, Russia has supplied its friends in Egypt with more than eight million tons of wheat,” the embXassy said.
During the same time, Egypt imported 11.6 million tons of wheat from all sources
“[Wheat] supplies will continue at the same level despite the falsehoods spread by western news agencies about the cessation [of shipments],” the embassy added.
The Palau-flagged Aroyat vessel left the port of Chornomorsk in Ukraine, carrying Ukrainian wheat to Egypt, Kyiv said on Friday. This is the second such trip since Russia announced in July pulling out of a grain deal that allowed the export of Ukrainian grain.
The Russian withdrawal from the deal has raised global concerns over grain supplies worldwide. Egypt has expressed its dismay over the decision and called for a consensual solution to revive the deal.
Ukraine is testing a new sea route that avoids international waters and follows those controlled by NATO members Bulgaria and Romania following Russia's withdrawal from a UN-backed grain export deal.
Kyiv had earlier successfully sent several cargo ships, albeit not carrying wheat, along the new route.
Russia has not hit ships using the new pathway, but it has stepped up attacks on Ukraine's Black Sea port infrastructure.
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