Russia’s Chechen leader says he is ready to secure wheat supplies to Syria if necessary
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Kremlin-backed Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said he was ready to step in if necessary and ensure Syria gets the wheat it needs, citing disruptions to Russian wheat supplies to the country is unlikely to happen.
Russia has suspended wheat supplies to Syria amid uncertainty over Syria’s new government after two Russian wheat ships destined for Syria failed to reach their destination, Russian and Syrian sources told Reuters on Friday.
Kadyrov said in a message posted on his Telegram channel on Sunday that the two diverted ships had been carrying “commercial” wheat and that Russian state-backed supplies to Syria were not affected.
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“Even if for some impossible and unbelievable reasons this does happen, as the head of the Chechen Republic I am ready to take responsibility and ensure that Syria receives the necessary amount of wheat,” Kadyrov wrote.
Russia, the world’s largest wheat exporter, supplies wheat to Syria through complex financial and logistical arrangements to circumvent Western sanctions imposed on both countries. It is unclear what proportion of the wheat is supplied by the state.
Kadyrov did not specify how he would organize and finance the supply of wheat to Syria, or where it would come from, if he had to intervene.
But he said he could take action if necessary through a charitable fund named after his late father, which helped rebuild some mosques and provided aid to Syria during the rule of ousted President Bashar al-Assad. humanitarian assistance.
Russian analysts estimate Russian exports to Syria so far this season at 300,000 tons, with the country ranking 24th among Russian wheat buyers. They estimate total Syrian wheat imports to be about 2 million tons.
Russia is Syria’s main supplier of wheat and supply disruptions could push the country’s more than 23 million people into starvation. Sources told Reuters that the two sides were in contact over supply issues.
(Reporting by Olga Popova and Gleb Bryansky; Editing by Andrew Osborne)
