Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke by phone Nov. 2 about the upcoming Group of 20 leaders conference Nov. 15-16 in Bali. The Moscow read-out noted that the personal efforts of Widodo “to promote a unifying agenda of the G20” were especially important.
World food security was a major topic between the leaders. “It was noted that Russia was ready to ship considerable amounts of grain to the poorest countries free of charge as humanitarian aid. Joko Widodo supported this approach,” reported the Russian read-out. This refers to the announcement made Oct. 30 by Russia, that it will provide 500,000 tons of grain free to poor nations over the next four months. The two leaders also discussed the perspective contained in the Istanbul July deal for unblocking Russian agricultural and fertilizer exports to global markets, which still has not been fully respected.
