Ukraine and Russia signed a grain export agreement

Ukraine and Russia signed an agreement on Friday allowing Turkey-mediated exports of wheat and other grains from the Black Sea.

The agreement was signed in Istanbul in the presence of United Nations (UN) Secretary-General António Guterres and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, eliminating the risk of a global food crisis caused by the Russian naval blockade. Ukrainian ports.

The first to sign the agreement was Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu. After the Moscow representative left the table, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov also sat at the table and signed the document.

At the ceremony, which was also attended by Russian oligarch Roman, Erdogan said, “There will be no winner or loser in this war, the only loser will be the world, but we hope this agreement will reopen the spiral of peace.” Abramovich, the former owner of Chelsea and already trying to mediate negotiations between Kyiv and Moscow.

The agreement was signed as the first agreement signed between Ukraine and Russia since the start of the war, but President Volodymyr Zelensky’s office announced that the agreement was signed by both parties not directly with each other, but with Turkey and the UN.

“Today’s agreement is a signal for the Black Sea,” Guterres said, adding that the compromise would stabilize food prices in the international market. “Today is a historic day, together we prevent hunger,” said Erdogan.

The document provides for the creation of safe corridors for grain exports from three Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea, including the country’s main port of Odessa. This will enable the distribution of approximately 25 million tons of grain in the coming months. Under the agreement, merchant ships will not need military escorts to access the Ukrainian coast and exports will be monitored by a coordination center in Istanbul. If cargo ships need to be inspected, inspections will be carried out by partner groups.

Still, Kyiv has promised “immediate military intervention” in case of “provocations” from Russia.