Ukraine and Russia have signed “mirror” agreements that will allow Kiev to resume grain exports through the Black Sea.
The agreement will allow the export of millions of tons of cereals, currently trapped in Ukraine by the war.
The global shortage of Ukrainian grain since the Russian invasion on February 24 has left millions of people at risk of famine.
However, kyiv refused to sign a direct agreement with Moscow, warning that “provocations” would be met with “an immediate military response”.
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak explained on Friday that the country would sign an agreement with Turkey and the United Nations (UN), which negotiated the agreement, while Russia signed an identical agreement.
In the end, the two parties attended the signing ceremony in Istanbul, but did not sit at the same table. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu signed the Moscow agreement first, followed by Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov, who signed the identical kyiv agreement.
The agreement, which took two months to arrive, has a duration of 120 days, with a coordination and monitoring center to be established in Istanbul, made up of UN, Turkish, Russian and Ukrainian officials. It can be renewed if both parties agree.
Ukraine’s grain blockade has caused a global food crisis with wheat-based products such as bread and pasta becoming more expensive, and cooking oils and fertilizers have also risen in price.
What is the agreement about?
According to the diplomats, these are the terms of the agreement:
- Russia will not target ports while shipments are in transit
- Ukrainian ships will guide freighters through waters that have been mined
- Turkey, with the support of the United Nations, will inspect the ships to allay Russian fears about arms smuggling.
- Russian exports of grain and fertilizers through the Black Sea will be facilitated.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said it was probably the most important thing he had done in his time at the helm of the international body.
“Today, there is a lighthouse in the Black Sea,” he told the audience gathered in Istanbul. “A beacon of hope… possibility… and relief in a world that needs it more than ever.”
However, there were still doubts on the part of Ukraine before the signing.
A parliamentarian from Odessa, the center of Russia’s grain blockade in Ukraine, said he still did not trust the Kremlin because of its past behavior.
According to the BBC, Oleksiy Goncharenko said that “we do not believe in the Russians”, adding that Russia would only sign an agreement if it felt there was no other option.
Russia has always denied blockading Ukraine’s ports, blaming Ukraine for planting mines in the sea and Western sanctions for curbing Russia’s exports.
In an article addressed to African newspapers, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov blamed the West and Ukraine for “absolutely unfounded” accusations that Russia was exporting famine. He praised the “balanced position of Africans regarding what is happening in and around Ukraine.”
However, Ukraine says the Russian navy prevents it from shipping grain and other exports and accuses Russian occupation forces of stealing grain from Ukrainian farms.
But amid the uncertainty, there are positive signs: the prospect of the unlocking of more than 20 million tons of Ukrainian grain alone caused a 2% drop in wheat prices this Friday.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who has played a crucial role in the negotiations, said he hoped the deal could be the first step in ending the war.
“It is to be hoped that this joint step that we are taking with Ukraine and Russia will revive the path to peace,” he said on Friday.
