Turkey says an agreement has been reached with Russia to allow Ukraine to resume grain exports through the Black Sea.
It will be signed on Friday in Istanbul by Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres. The world shortage of Ukrainian grain since the February 24 invasion of Russia has put millions of people at risk of starvation.
The invasion pushed up food prices, so the deal to unblock Ukraine’s ports is crucial. About 20 million tonnes of grain are trapped in silos in Odessa.
The United Nations and Turkey have been working on a grain deal for two months amid global concerns over the food crisis. Russia denies blocking Ukraine’s ports – it blames Ukraine for laying mines in the sea and Western sanctions slowing Russia’s exports.
However, Ukraine maintains that the Russian Navy blocks it from grain and other exports and accuses Russian occupying forces of stealing grain from Ukrainian farms.
If the signing goes ahead, it will be the first significant deal between Russia and Ukraine since the invasion began. Some prisoner exchanges have occurred, but a ceasefire is still a long way off.
“The grain export agreement, critically important for global food security, will be signed in Istanbul under President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan and UN Secretary-General Mr Guterres together with Ukrainian and Russian delegations,” said Mr Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin.
Sergiy Kyslytsya, the Ukrainian ambassador to the UN, said the devil would be in the detail of the deal, which all parties were still working on.
If the deal were signed and implemented, it would “ensure a significant number of ships can approach or leave the Ukrainian ports, and we can export about 20 million tonnes of grain, which is ready to be exported,” he told BBC World News.
He added that Turkey would play an “essential part ensuring the security” and monitoring the process.
