Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar announced that officials from the four parties have agreed to set up a coordination center in Istanbul to monitor grain shipments out of Ukraine.according to the Wall Street Journal.
“In a world darkened by global crisis, today we finally have a ray of hope. Today is an important step, a step on the way to a global agreement,” said UN chief Antonio Guterres.
“It has been possible to formulate some elements of a possible agreement that Russia, Ukraine and Turkey are now discussing in their capitals through their military departments.”, added the spokeswoman for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova. The final draft of the agreement must receive the approval of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, who has already said that Russia is open to some kind of agreement to unblock Ukrainian ports for the export of grain. Putin expected to discuss grain issue with Turkish president Recep Erdogan when the two meet next week in Tehran. Ukraine, which has so far been cautious in negotiations, agreed progress is being made, with the country’s infrastructure minister, Oleksandr Kubrako, telling Reuters that kyiv is “definitely one step closer to a result”. .
The agreement focuses on a joint framework to ensure the uninterrupted export of grain from three Ukrainian Black Sea ports within a designated safe corridor.a person familiar with the talks told Wall Street Journal. The Turkish army would be in charge of guaranteeing the security of the export routes. Russia had already insisted on the right to inspect any Ukrainian ship for “smuggled weapons,” a demand rejected by kyiv. The latest version of the agreement would subject ships arriving at Ukrainian ports to inspections by the Turkish Navy.
Ukraine laid a large number of sea mines in the early stages of the war to thwart Russia’s naval advance towards its Black Sea coast. As part of the agreement, Ukraine will likely have to accept the removal of a part of these mines in exchange for security guarantees from Turkey and guarantees from Russia that it will not carry out military operations in the delimited sea areas. . Details of the demining process and the insurance of commercial vessels have not yet been finalized.
The Kremlin has previously conditioned any possible Ukrainian grain export deal on partial relaxation of Western sanctions against Russia.. It is not clear whether sanctions relief is on the table in the current four-way negotiations. Senior Turkish and UN officials have expressed optimism that the deal can be finalized as early as next week.
–
