Dice: The Russian-controlled part of southern Ukraine is ready to sell grain to the Middle East

According to IRNA’s report on Tuesday, quoted by Tass news agency, Yevgeny Balitsky, an official based in Zaporizhia region, said that agreements including the sale of cargoes to Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia have been planned.

Pointing out that there is a contract to supply 150,000 tons of grain to Iran, he mentioned that Russian businessmen and government companies buy grain from farmers in the region.

A farmer gets about $200 per ton of grain, which is great, because his production cost is about $120, even taking into account the long storage time that is mandatory, Balitsky added.

Maria Zakharova, the spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, recently announced: if the Western sanctions are lifted, this country is ready to export millions of tons of grain to the whole world.

He stated that Russia provides safe routes for the export of Ukrainian grains on a daily basis, and added: If the West is worried about the beginning of a global famine, it should not prevent the export of food resources.

Ukraine accuses Russia, the world’s biggest wheat exporter, of stealing grain from territories held by the Russian military, a claim Moscow denies.

According to expert estimates, the war in Ukraine has hampered the export of about 20 to 25 million tons of wheat in this country.

On February 21, the President of Russia recognized the independence of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics in the Donbas region, criticizing the West’s inattention to Moscow’s security concerns.

Three days after that, on Thursday March 5, he announced the beginning of a special military operation against Ukraine, and the tense Moscow-Kiev relationship turned into a military confrontation.

Conflicts in Ukraine and reactions to Russia’s actions continue.