Turkey promises that there will be an agreement to get the blocked cereals out of Ukraine

The Turkish presidency announced Thursday that a signing ceremony will be held on Friday to reveal a negotiated agreement between Ukraine and Russia with the aim of enabling the export of millions of tons of Ukrainian wheat, alleviating the global food shortage.

There was no official confirmation from Moscow or Kiev that an agreement was reached, only that negotiations would continue on Friday.

But on Thursday, officials from both capitals confirmed that the two sides were nearing an agreement.

More than 20 million tons of Ukrainian wheat have been trapped in Ukrainian Black Sea ports since the full-scale invasion of Russia began in February, disrupting grain exports from one of the world’s granaries, exacerbating famine in Africa and undermining supply chains international food companies already affected by the pandemic.

In a war where the president Vladimir Putin showed its willingness to attack civilians and to arm energy and food, Russia’s blockade of Ukraine’s grain exports spread around the world and was one of the most serious international repercussions of Moscow’s attack on the its neighbor.

Russia’s de facto blockade of the Black Sea caused Ukrainian exports to drop a sixth part from its pre-war level.

Officials have been trying to unlock the situation for months as international aid organizations have made increasingly dire predictions of rising food prices and rising rates of hunger and famine.

At the same time, Western countries have moved cautiously, aware of the risks to trap NATO in the war.

Andrei Rudenko, Russian deputy foreign minister, told Interfax Thursday that the negotiations are proceeding “quite dynamically and the parties are engaging constructively”.

He added: “Therefore, we hope to be able to reach a consensus in the near future.”

Any potential deal could fall apart at the last minute.

And if an agreement is reached, there may be great obstacles to implement an agreement between the two warring nations.

It is also not clear how much grain it would be released and in what condition it would be after being stored for months in a war zone.

The United Nations On Thursday they said their general secretary, Antonio Guterreshe had landed in Istanbul as part of his effort “to ensure full global access to Ukrainian food products and Russian food fertilizers.”

“The situation is still a bit fluid, so I can’t really say when anything will be signed,” UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Thursday.

“But as you can see from the fact that he is traveling to Istanbul, we are moving forward with this.”

Last week, after meeting in Istanbul with negotiators from Ukraine, Russia and Turkey, Guterres told reporters that the deal was “technically closed“and that he would interrupt his vacation and go to Istanbul to sign it.

So far, one of the main obstacles to a deal was the mines that Ukraine had planted in its ports on the Black Sea coast to deter Russian warships.

At the end of June, Guterres outlined the main elements of an agreement proposed by the United Nations and Turkey would solve that problem.

According to three senior government officials, Guterres said the Ukrainians agreed to remove only some of the mines and to have their own navy or coast guard captains to guide merchant ships in international waters.

Foreign crews would then take the ships to Istanbul before continuing to other destinations.

A control center would be set up in Istanbul to oversee the operation, with Turkish officials playing the main role in controlling the ships to assure Russia that empty ships were not carrying weapons to Ukraine.

On Thursday, two senior European officials with direct knowledge of the talks, who were not identified due to the sensitivity of the negotiations, also said they were optimistic about reaching an agreement in Istanbul on Friday.

The The European Union is not a part in negotiations.

For its part, the Russian side has insisted that its cereals and fertilizers are blocked due to EU measures, an accusation that Europeans vehemently rejected as propaganda.

Russian cereals and fertilizers they are not sanctioneds from the EU.

On Thursday, the blockade issued a series of legal clarifications seeking to dispel any doubts that companies can export Russian grain and fertilizers without incurring penalties.

Ned Price, a State Department spokesperson, said the Biden administration would be in favor of a deal, but stressed the importance of ensuring that Russia respect it and implement it.

Ivan Nechepurenko contributed reports from Tbilisi, Georgia, and Edward Wong from Lewes, Delaware.

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