The European Union has in its possession upwards of 100,000 tons of Russian fertilizers, Moscow said last week, accusing the bloc of illegally seizing the products, TASS reports.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, Moscow shipped out the fertilizers for humanitarian purposes, and the demands they are released as soon as possible, said ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova in a briefing.

Part of the fertilizer shipment, intended as humanitarian aid for countries of the global South already reached some of its intended recipients – including Malawi, Kenya, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe, while the rest remains trapped in the European ports of Latvia, Estonia, and Belgium.

“The most vulnerable countries of the global South, which the countries of the collective West are so concerned about, are suffering as a result of such a discriminatory policy,” Zakharova noted.

Zakharova added that although Western nations argue that ‘sanctions do not apply to Russian agricultural products,’ in reality the bloc has banned deliveries of any kind, including humanitarian and commercial.

Last year, as the Anadolu Agency reported, leaders from Russia and Africa urged the United Nations (UN) to take measures and help release 200,000 tons of Russian fertilizer held by the EU.

The Kremlin published a joint statement, signed by the presidents of Comoros, Congo, Egypt, Russia, Senegal, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia in which the leaders “called for specific steps to remove obstacles to Russian grain and fertilizer exports, thus allowing the resumption of the full implementation of the Black Sea package initiative of the United Nations Secretary-General as endorsed on 22 July 2022 in Istanbul.”