Arms Imports in Sub-Saharan Africa: Predicting Conflict Involvement

Russia declined to renew the agreement last week, complaining that its own exports were being held up.

and Turkey reopened Ukrainian Black Sea ports blocked by fighting and provided assurances that ships entering them wouldn't be attacked. The resumption of shipments from Ukraine's Black Sea ports allowed global food prices to drop significantly from the levels they reached after Putin sent troops into the neighboring country. was in contact with Turkey, Ukraine, Russia and other countries to try to reestablish the year-old agreement, under which Ukraine exported more than 32 million tons of grain. Secretary-General António Guterres responded to Putin's pledge of no-cost grain shipments by noting that such donations of grain can't compensate for the impact of Moscow cutting off grain exports from Ukraine, which along with Russia is a top supplier to the world market.

World Food Program shipped 725,000 tons of grain to several countries, including Somalia, under the Black Sea deal. He declared at the summit's opening Thursday that Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Eritrea and Central African Republic each will receive 25,000 to 50,000 tons of Russian grain in the next three to four months. “Russia will always be a responsible international supplier of agricultural products and will continue to support the countries and region in need by offering free grain and other supplies,” the Russian leader said. Moscow's withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative has fueled concerns of a global food crisis. In his speech, Putin reaffirmed his pledge that Russia will maintain steady supplies of grain and other agricultural products to the continent after its withdrawal from a deal allowing grain shipments from Ukraine. The African leaders said they expected to hear Putin's detailed reactions in a subsequent closed part of the meeting. In the public portion of a late night meeting Friday about the peace proposal, Putin repeated to the African leaders his explanations for the conflict's origins and Russia's actions in it, without giving any specific reaction to their suggestions.

Arms Imports in Sub-Saharan Africa: Predicting Conflict Involvement