Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday told African leaders he would gift them tens of thousands of tons of grain within months in spite of Western sanctions which he said made it harder for Moscow to export its grain and fertiliser.

Speaking at a summit in St Petersburg devoted to Russian-African ties, Putin said Russia was expecting a record grain harvest this year and was ready to replace Ukrainian grain exports to Africa on both a commercial and aid basis.

“We will be ready to provide Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic, and Eritrea with 25-50,000 tons of free grain each in the next 3-4 months,” Putin told the summit, whose participants reacted with applause.

The event, which is expected to see various agreements signed, follows Moscow’s first Russia-Africa summit in 2019 and is part of a concerted push for influence and business on a continent where mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group remain active despite an abortive mutiny at home last month.

Responding to Western criticism of Russia’s decision to quit the Black Sea grain deal last week, Putin reiterated that Moscow left because none of the promises it was given about facilitating its own grain and fertiliser exports had been met.

Meanwhile, Russia said 49 of the continent’s 54 states are represented at the St Petersburg summit, including 17 by their heads of state and four by heads of government.

That is fewer than half the number of leaders who took part in the event in 2019, a fall that Russia blamed on what it called “brazen” efforts by the United States, France, and other countries to discourage leaders from attending.

The summit programme includes an array of panel discussions on topics ranging from security, nuclear energy, and artificial intelligence to education and sport.