A file picture shows employees working at the Uralkali, Russian potash fertilizer company, in the Urals city of Berezniki, more than 1,200 kilometers east of Moscow. (AFP)

Putin accuses EU of blocking Russian fertilizer

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Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday accused the European Union of blocking 300,000 tonnes of Russian fertilizer from reaching the world’s poorest countries.

“The height of cynicism is that even our offer... to transfer for free 300,000 tonnes of Russian fertilizer blocked in European ports because of sanctions to countries that need it is still without an answer,” he said in televised remarks.

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“It’s clear – they do not want to let our companies make money,” he said, “but we would like to donate (the fertilizer in question) to countries that need it.”

The West imposed a litany of sanctions on Russia after it sent troops into Ukraine on February 24.

Ukraine, one of the world’s largest grain exporters, was forced to halt almost all deliveries after Russia started its military operation.

In July, an agreement with Russia and Ukraine was brokered by Turkey and the United Nations, designating three ports for Kyiv to send grain supplies through a Russian blockade.

A similar agreement signed at the same time allowed Russia to export its agricultural products and fertilizer despite Western sanctions.

Russia is one of the world’s major producers of fertilizers.

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