Russia plans to donate 25,000 tonnes of wheat to Lebanon amid Black Sea deal dispute
Russia plans to donate 25,000 tonnes of wheat to Lebanon, according to local officials. This comes after Moscow announced it was suspending its participation in a vital Black Sea deal that allowed for the movement of Ukrainian grain shipments.
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Lebanon imported some 754,000 tonnes of wheat in 2021 [source: Getty]
Lebanon was told on Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin approved a donation of 25,000 tonnes of wheat to the crisis-hit country, Lebanese Public Works Minister Ali Hamie told Reuters on Monday.
Russia would also donate 10,000 tonnes of fuel oil to Beirut, Hamie said.
Lebanon, once a reasonably affluent country, has been plunged into a series of protracted crises, including an economic meltdown, prolonged political deadlock and the devastating Beirut port blast in 2020.
On top of this, there has been a wave of cholera cases in Lebanon, according to the World Health Organisation.
On the same day, Pakistan's government approved a plan to buy 300,000 metric tonnes of wheat from Russia, the finance ministry said in a statement.
This comes just after Russia suspended its participation in a critical Black Sea deal that allowed for the exportation of Ukrainian grain shipments to alleviate the global food supply crisis.
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