Lebanese Ambassador to Russia, Shawki Bou Nassar, announced on 30 March that Lebanon is set to receive fuel and wheat deliveries from Moscow “soon,” but that the date is still unclear due to logistical issues.
“The delivery of grain and oil products will be soon, but it is not clear in which month … the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations is working to solve logistical issues to transfer them to the port of Beirut,” Bou Nassar said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin “signed an order to send 25,000 tons of grain and 10,000 tons of fuel to Lebanon,” the minister went on to say, adding that “the political issue [relating to the deliveries] has already been resolved.”
The deliveries were announced in September last year as a humanitarian donation aimed at relieving the country’s severe energy and food crisis, which comes as part of the broader political and economic turmoil that Lebanon is facing.
This was not the first offer of humanitarian assistance made by Moscow to Beirut. In August last year, Russian Ambassador to Lebanon, Alexander Rudakov, obtained initial approval from Moscow to provide Lebanon with a donation of 40,000 tons of wheat per month until the end of 2022.
However, Beirut only gave “preliminary approval” for the proposal at the time.
In April 2022, Lebanese media outlet Al-Akhbar reported that Lebanon ignored a Russian offer to send wheat, grains, and vegetable oils to the country as a result of US pressure.
US political and economic pressure has also resulted in the prevention of humanitarian fuel deliveries from the Islamic Republic of Iran to Lebanon.
Additionally, a US-brokered plan to import Egyptian energy into Lebanon via Jordan and Syria has failed to materialize as a result of Washington’s refusal to issue sanctions waivers for the companies and states involved in the deal. The World Bank has also continuously refused to approve the funding for the gas transfer.