Russia and Ukraine will sign an agreement on grain exports in Istanbul on Friday afternoon, the Turkish presidency announced on Thursday night. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, along with representatives of Russia and Ukraine, will attend the signing ceremony, the presidency added.
The deal should allow Ukrainian cereals blocked by the war to flow out of the Black Sea and relaxation of barriers to the export of Russian cereals and fertilizers. A deal is “possible in the next few days,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Thursday morning.
“We have hope for cereals. We hope to give good news in the coming days,” he said and was “optimistic” during an interview with the public television channel TRT. In New York, the deputy UN spokesman, Farhan Haq, announced that Antonio Guterres and his two negotiators, in office for more than two months, were expected imminently in Istanbul.
“The secretary general will travel this (Thursday) night to Istanbul, Turkey, as part of his efforts to ensure full global access to Ukrainian food products and Russian food and fertilizer,” he said. The UN chief is spending a vacation near Turkey and had recently indicated that he was willing to interrupt them for a signing in Istanbul. According to the diplomats who spoke on condition of anonymity, a deal was originally supposed to have been signed on Wednesday, then pushed back to Thursday before it happens on Friday.
famine risk
In addition to the head of the UN, Martin Griffiths, his assistant secretary general for humanitarian affairs, who was in charge of the negotiation on the outlet of Ukrainian cereals through the Black Sea, and Rebeca Grynspan, at the head of the UN agency. UNCTAD on trade and development will also be in Istanbul, said Farhan Haq.
Rebeca Grynspan, who is returning to Moscou, to this chargée de négocier l’allègement des restrictions touchant de manière indirecte l’exportation de céréales et engrais russes à la suite des sanctions internationales imposées à Moscou par notamment les Etats-Unis et the European Union.
According to a diplomate plaintiff à ne pas être identifié, Washington récemment promis des guaranties dites “of comfort” so that des sociétés de transport puissent fournir à la Russie des navires de gros tonnage pour l’exportation de ses céréales et engrais sans être inquiétées par the sanctions. Moscow claimed that the latter only allowed it to use small vessels with insufficient capacity for its exports.
Safe corridors and localized ceasefires
“Although Russian (agricultural) products are not affected by the sanctions, there are blockades in shipping, insurance and the banking system. The United States and the European Union have committed to lifting them,” the Turkish minister stressed. As for Ukrainian cereals, the agreement that is being negotiated aims to reuse the Black Sea through safe corridors and localized ceasefires in transit areas.
An inspection of trading ships, presumably by Turkey, is planned to make sure ships going to Odessa to pick up grain do not contain weapons. The creation of a coordination center in Istanbul with the participation of UN experts specializing in maritime navigation is planned, according to diplomats.
The long-awaited agreement between Ukraine and Russia should have the rapid effect of lowering prices, which have seen very strong growth in recent months. The resulting food crisis threatens several countries around the world with the risk of famine, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, but also in Lebanon and Egypt.
Source: BFM TV
