Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a phone conversation with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday that Ukrainian grain should reach the countries that need it the most “first”, reports AFP.

During these negotiations, “main attention was paid to the implementation of the Istanbul agreements regarding the export of Ukrainian grain (…). Both sides emphasized the importance of giving priority to those from Africa, the Middle East and Latin America who are in need of food,” the Kremlin statement said.

The Russian president also said a week ago that Ukrainian grain is exported mainly to European countries, and not to poor countries, which, in his opinion, creates the risk of a “humanitarian catastrophe”, reports AFP.

These statements do not fully confirm the data provided to AFP by the coordination center in Turkey, according to which only 36% of Ukrainian grain reached the EU countries.

“Almost all grain exported from Ukraine is sent not to developing countries and poor countries, but to EU countries,” Putin said at an economic forum in Vladivostok (Russia’s Far East).

“What we are seeing is a deception (…), a rude and reckless treatment of these partners for whom all this was supposed to be done,” he told numerous Asian economic and political leaders.

The Russian president condemned the “colonizing” attitude of Western countries, especially the EU, which think first of all about their “own interests”. “They don’t care,” he said.

“Look at the count: 80 ships, and only two to developing countries,” meaning “only 3 percent,” Putin said in his speech.