Putin promises African summit that Russia will make maximum efforts to avert a food crisis

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin has told leaders and officials from most African countries that his nation is making full efforts to avert a global food crisis despite concerns that its withdrawal from a deal allowing grain shipments from Ukraine will cause shortages and price spikes. He spoke at the opening session of a two-day Russia-Africa summit attended by a sharply lower number of African heads of state and government compared with a previous summit in 2019. Putin said Russia will continue supporting needy states with humanitarian deliveries and will participate in building a fairer system of distribution of resources.