TEHERAN (AFP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday (July 19) said that the West must remove restrictions on exports of Russian grain.  

“We will facilitate the export of Ukrainian grain, but we are proceeding from the fact that all restrictions related to air deliveries for the export of Russian grain will be lifted,” Mr Putin told reporters in Teheran after holding talks with the leaders of Iran and Turkey.

Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine has hampered shipments from one of the world’s biggest exporters of wheat and other grain, sparking fears of global food shortages.  

“As you know, Americans have lifted – essentially lifted – restrictions on the supply of Russian fertilizers to the world markets,” Mr Putin said.  

“If they sincerely want to improve the situation on the international food markets, I hope the same will happen with the supply of Russian grain for export.”

Cereal prices in Africa, the world’s poorest continent, have surged because of the slump in exports from Ukraine, sharpening the impact of conflict and climate change and sparking fears of social unrest.  

The United Nations has said Africa faces an “unprecedented” crisis caused by the conflict.

The Russian president also said gas giant Gazprom will fulfil all its obligations “in full” and mocked the West for relying on green energy.

“Gazprom has fulfilled, is fulfilling and will fulfil its obligations in full,” Mr Putin told reporters in Teheran.

Since Mr Putin sent troops to Ukraine on Feb 24 and the West responded with sanctions against Moscow, Russia has begun reducing its gas deliveries to prevent EU countries from replenishing reserves, prompting the European Commission to prepare “a gas demand reduction plan” to get through the next winter.

Speaking in Teheran, Mr Putin took a jab at the West for seeking to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and switch to green energy.

“They are great experts in the field of non-traditional relations, and in the field of energy, they have also decided to rely on non-traditional types of energy – the sun and wind,” Mr Putin quipped.

“They themselves are shutting down everything and then looking for someone to blame – it would be funny if it were not so sad.”

In May, EU leaders agreed to stop most Russian oil imports by the end of the year, as part of unprecedented sanctions they slapped on Moscow over its intervention in Ukraine.

But the bloc put off an outright ban on Russian gas.