Russia and Ukraine have reached a UN-backed deal to open Black Sea ports to Ukrainian grain exports. This historic agreement was completed at around eight o'clock Bangladesh time on Friday.
Turkey and the United Nations are playing an important role in signing this agreement. The deal is expected to end the global food crisis following the Russian attack on Ukraine.
Russia and Ukraine are among the world's largest grain exporters. Defense Minister Shoigu signed the agreement on behalf of Russia in Istanbul. Ukraine's delegation was led by Oleksandr Kubrakov, Minister of Infrastructure. At that time, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan were present.
In a statement on the signing of the agreement, the Secretary General of the United Nations said that the agreement will open the way for a significant amount of food exports from Ukraine, and developing countries that are on the verge of bankruptcy will benefit from it. He urged Russia and Ukraine to fully implement the agreement. According to the UN officials, according to the agreement, the shipping will start from Saturday.
What is in the contract?
A team of Turkey, Ukraine and United Nations officials will monitor the loading of grain at Ukrainian ports before the cargo ship sets off on its pre-planned route to the Black Sea. Ukrainian sailors will use ship maps to guide commercial ships transporting grain to avoid mines in Ukrainian ports. The ships will cross the Black Sea to Turkey's Bosphorus Strait. Representatives from the United Nations, Ukraine, Russia and Turkey will monitor the ship from a joint coordination center in Istanbul. Ships entering Ukraine will likewise be operated under the supervision of the Joint Coordination Center, so that they cannot carry weapons to Ukraine. Russia and Ukraine will not attack any commercial ships or ports carrying essential grain.
Food crisis will be reduced
"Such an agreement between two warring countries is historic," Guterres said. This will help stabilize global food prices. In particular, the agreement we signed will open the way for significant commercial food exports from the three main Ukrainian ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny.'
Before signing the deal today, Kiev ruled out a direct deal with Moscow. While the two countries are on the brink of an agreement on grain exports, Russian offensives in eastern Ukraine have intensified. Apart from this, the enmity and mistrust between the two countries is still very deep. In this situation, the adviser to the President of Ukraine, Mykhailo Podoliak, said that they will not sign any other document with Russia except the agreement on grain export with the United Nations. He said, in case of provocation, Ukraine will give an immediate military response.
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On February 24, Russian forces started attacking Ukraine. Russia has stopped the export of grain to Ukraine through Black Sea ports. It has disrupted the global food supply system. In addition to this, due to the imposition of sanctions on Russia by Western countries, inflation has increased in the world. Food and fuel prices have increased dramatically.
Russia's state news agency Tass quoted a source as saying that three ports, including Odesa, Ukraine's largest export port, will be opened under the deal. Diplomats said last week that grain shipments would be jointly inspected at the port under the agreement. Russia worries the waterway could be used to smuggle arms into Ukraine.
Two million tons of grain are stuck in Odessa port. Apart from this, several ships are stuck in the face of Russian forces. Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said this is an important step to alleviate the current food crisis.
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