Russia and Ukraine sign grain exports deal
Ministers from both countries signed an agreement brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in Istanbul.
Russia has so far been blocking maritime access to those ports, meaning that millions of tons of Ukrainian grain has not been exported to the many countries that rely on it.
“Today, there is a beacon on the Black Sea. A beacon of hope — a beacon of possibility — a beacon of relief — in a world that needs it more than ever,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday.
“Promoting the welfare of humanity has been the driving force of these talks,” he said. “The question has not been what is good for one side or the other. The focus has been on what matters most for the people of our world. And let there be no doubt — this is an agreement for the world.”
Guterres said the deal will bring relief for developing countries and help stabilize global food prices, “which were already at record levels even before the war — a true nightmare for developing countries.”
The World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that 47 million people have moved into a stage of acute hunger as a consequence of the Ukraine war, and Western officials have accused Russia of using food as a weapon during its invasion.
The deal will also allow the unimpeded access of Russian fertilizers to global markets. Russia is a major producer of fertilizers, which are vital to maximizing food production, and the cost of the product has spiralled since the invasion.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said “millions of people will be relieved of this danger of hunger” as a result of the deal.
“In the coming days we will see the start of ship traffic and many countries will have a breath of fresh air,” Erdogan said.
How will this deal work?
As part of the deal signed Friday, grain ships would navigate through a safe corridor in the Black Sea under the direction of Ukrainian pilots, and then pass through the Bosphorus strait — an important shipping corridor in north-west Turkey — in order to reach global markets.
Vessels would be inspected before they arrive in Ukraine by Russian, Ukrainian and Turkish officials, to ensure weapons are not being smuggled into Ukraine.
The ships will be monitored by a Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) which will be established immediately in Istanbul and include representatives from Ukraine, Russia and Turkey.
Both parties have agreed that there should be no attacks on any of the vessels going from those ports out of territorial waters into the Black Sea by any party.
Before the deal was signed, the Ukrainian government warned Russia against any provocations. “No transport escort by Russian ships and no presence of Russian representatives in our ports,” Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the Ukrainian president’s chief of staff tweeted on Friday.
“In case of provocations, an immediate military response,” he added.
Podolyak also added that Ukraine was not signing an agreement with Russia, but with Turkey and the UN. He also said inspections of ships would be carried out in Ukrainian waters, by joint groups, if necessary.
The Black Sea will not be de-mined; a lengthy and complex process that the UN’s mining experts, as well as Turkey and Ukraine, agreed was…
Read More: Russia and Ukraine sign grain exports deal