Putin and Ramaphosa have phone chat about grain deal, upcoming BRICS summit

Russian President Vladimir Putin and President Cyril Ramaphosa discussed the Black Sea grain deal in a phone call.

• Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with President Cyril  Ramaphosa in which they discussed the Black Sea grain deal.
• The Kremlin said Ramaphosa briefed Putin about the BRICS summit which is set to take place in August.
• Putin reiterated that commitments to remove obstacles to Russian food and fertiliser exports had not yet been fulfilled.

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a phone call with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa in which they discussed the Black Sea grain deal, due to expire on Monday, and a summit in South Africa next month, the Kremlin said on Saturday.

Putin’s possible attendance at the BRICS summit in South Africa is delicate for both countries because of an arrest warrant issued against him in March by the International Criminal Court (ICC), which accuses him of the war crimes.

The warrant means member states of the ICC – of which South Africa is one – are obliged to arrest him if he sets foot on their territory. Russia said at the time that the warrant was “outrageous” and legally void because it is not an ICC member.

The Kremlin has yet to say publicly if Putin intends to attend the summit in August. In Saturday’s statement, it said Ramaphosa had briefed Putin about preparations for the event, but did not give details of their exchange.

On the grain deal, which expires on Monday unless Russia agrees to extend it, Putin had reiterated to Ramaphosa that commitments to remove obstacles to Russian food and fertiliser exports had not yet been fulfilled, the Kremlin said.

Russia has repeatedly said that for this reason it sees no grounds to renew the deal, originally struck a year ago to enable Ukraine to export grain from its Black Sea ports, despite the war with Russia.

READ | Putin: Russia may quit Black Sea grain deal if demands are not met

In comments to reporters on Thursday, Putin said that rather than renew the arrangement next week, Moscow might pull out and wait for its demands to be met before rejoining.

Russia has threatened to quit the deal before, however, only to renew it at the last minute.

The Kremlin said Putin and Ramaphosa would also hold bilateral talks on the fringes of a Russia-Africa summit in St Petersburg later this month.

It said the summit would continue discussion of an African peace initiative on the Ukraine war, a plan that Ramaphosa and others presented to Putin last month, but which has shown no sign of gaining traction.