According to Volodymyr Zelensky, president of Ukraine, unlike Russia, his nation did not obstruct food deliveries to Africa even while the crisis persisted.
The Ukrainian leader claimed, while speaking via zoom to a few African journalists, that unlike his rivals, his nation has never brought up the topic of preventing bread and wheat from reaching Africa.
He claimed that this should serve as notice to the African continent that Russia supports famine there and will do all in their power to ensure that Africans go hungry.
“Please look at agriculture and food products. Did Ukraine block the supply of food products to the African continent from the Russian Federation? Did we raise the issue of preventing bread and wheat from reaching Africa from Russia? Never. We fight them with other sanctions. And what did they do? On the contrary, they did block. Both Russia and Ukraine sell grain products to African countries.
“We do not block agricultural exports from Russia, but they have blocked our ports with force and weapons. They support famine. Then what did they contribute besides their arrivals to the African continent all these years? One cannot say that Russia has paid much attention to the African continent since the Soviet Union. This is not true.
“There were many states in the Soviet Union, which today, like the countries of Africa, see their independence and conduct their relations with various independent states of the African continent. If all Russian investments in African countries are only one per cent, then this is their price, this is their faith in the future of the African continent,” President Zelensky established.
However, he urged Africans to join Ukraine in its current conflict with Russia. To him, it means that Africans support the truth because Ukrainians are peace-loving people when they assist his nation to win the battle against Russia.
“It is important for us and the world to win this war, to convey to every African family that we are peace-loving people. We are not different from you. We may have different educations, may have studied different textbooks, we had different teachers, but we still share the same values with you. It should be clear that Russia is just a colonizer who wants to occupy and destroy our country. This information war must be fair. The truth must prevail. I think this is the most important thing.
“…Russia does not invest in you as in countries, nations or societies. This means that Russia does not believe in you. All Russian investments are just political. Russia comes to you, tells you that they are a great state, the heir of the Soviet Union, tells [you]; ‘we need to expand our ties.’
“We want African countries to support not just Ukraine but the truth. And we are ready to guarantee food security for the African continent, while we do not ask to exclude supplies from Russia. It’s your choice.”
