Russia and Ukraine An agreement was expected to be signed on Friday that would allow Ukraine to resume grain shipments to world markets and Russia To export grain and fertilizers, ending a standoff that threatened world food security while the two countries are at war in Ukraine.
Ukrainian and Russian military delegations last week reached a tentative agreement on a UN plan that would enable Ukraine to export 22 million tons of desperately needed grain and other agricultural products stuck in war-torn Black Sea ports.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan planned to oversee the signing of the agreement in Istanbul. According to their governments, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Ukraine’s Minister of Infrastructure, Oleksandr Kubrakov, were expected signatories.
Ukraine is one of the world’s biggest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil, but Russia’s invasion of the country and a naval blockade of its ports has halted shipments. Some grain is being transported through Europe by rail, road and river, but during the nearly five-month war, prices of important commodities such as wheat and barley have soared.
The deal provides for the safe passage of ships. Turkish officials have said it hopes to establish a control center in Istanbul, which will be manned by UN, Turkish, Russian and Ukrainian officials and coordinate the process. Ships will inspect to make sure they don’t have weapons.
Guterres first raised the critical need to bring Ukraine’s agricultural output and Russia’s grain and fertilizer back to world markets during meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv in late April.
He proposed a package deal in early June amid fears that the war was jeopardizing food supplies for many developing countries and could worsen hunger for 181 million people.
Russian and Ukrainian officials have blamed each other for the blocked grain shipments. Moscow accused Ukraine of failing to remove sea mines at ports to allow for safe shipping and asserted its right to check incoming ships for weapons. Ukraine has argued that Russia’s port blockade and the launch of missiles from the Black Sea made any shipments impractical.
Ukraine has sought international guarantees that the Kremlin will not use secure corridors to attack the Black Sea port of Odessa. Ukrainian officials also accused Russia of deliberate fire to steal grain from eastern Ukraine and set fire to Ukrainian farms.
On Thursday evening, a spokesman for Ukraine’s foreign ministry stated Kyiv’s conditions for support of the plan.
The Ukrainian delegation “will support only those decisions that will guarantee the security of the southern regions of Ukraine, the strong position of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Black Sea and the safe export of Ukrainian agricultural products to world markets,” spokesman Oleh Nikolenko told reporters. .
In Washington, State Department spokesman Ned Price said the US welcomes the agreement in principle. “But what we are focusing on now is holding Russia accountable for implementing this agreement and bringing Ukrainian grain to world markets. It has been a very long time since Russia implemented this blockade. ,” Price said.
© 2022 Canadian Press