Ukraine and Russia sign grain export deal with Turkey and UN | Abroad

The UN Secretary-General said that especially developing countries and the “vulnerable people on the brink of famine” will benefit and the agreement “will help stabilize food prices”. The grain deal will prevent billions of people from facing hunger, Turkish President Erdogan said as host and mediator. According to him, the war will also end “at the negotiating table”. He expressed the hope that the grain export agreement will prove the “turning point.”

At the ceremony in Istanbul, however, the delegations of Ukraine and Russia did not sit at the same table. Shortly before signing, the Ukrainians had emphasized that they would not conclude an agreement with the aggressor, but with the Turks and the UN.

The international organization will coordinate the operations necessary to implement the agreement and make the shipping routes safe from Istanbul. According to observers, the Turkish navy will play an important role in securing the shipping routes and inspecting cargo ships. Other countries may be approached by the UN to help. The Netherlands has previously offered minesweepers.

According to UN officials, Turkish, Ukrainian and UN officials will monitor the loading of the grain ships in Ukrainian ports. Ukrainian pilots will then guide the ships through the mine-strewn coastal waters to the Bosphorus. It will use safe route maps provided by Ukraine.

Ships sailing to Ukraine will be checked by a combination of Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and UN inspectors. Russia and Ukraine have pledged that ships and ports where they are loaded will not be attacked. In Ukrainian ports, Turkish inspectors will mark areas under the protection of the agreement.

fertilizer

The war between Ukraine and Russia is also a battle between two of the largest grain producers in the world. Ukraine cannot export grain because of the war and Russia has problems with trade because of sanctions. The prices of wheat, among other things, have skyrocketed and there is a threat of food shortages in large parts of the world. Eritrea, for example, imports more than half of its grain needs from Russia and the rest from Ukraine. Turkey exports nearly 86 percent of its grain to those two countries, Egypt 74 percent, Pakistan over 72 percent and Tanzania two-thirds of its grain needs. With the agreement, the export of Russian fertilizer products should also be made possible again.

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