Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that the United Nations is responsible for respecting the agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain, which was signed in Istanbul.
“We trust the United Nations. It is their responsibility now to ensure that the agreement is respected,” Zelensky added, in his daily video address.
On Friday, Ukraine and Russia signed an agreement with Turkey and the United Nations on the export of Ukrainian grain stuck in the Black Sea ports, in the face of the risks of famine threatening a large number of countries in the world.
The Russian Defense Minister and Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister signed identical but separate texts.
Zelensky stated that the agreement will allow the export of approximately 20 million tons of last year’s harvest as well as this year’s harvest.
“It’s about farmers’ revenues, the whole agricultural sector, the state budget. It’s jobs. We now have about $10 billion in grain,” he explained.
“There is an opportunity to mitigate the severity of the food crisis and prevent a global catastrophe – a famine that could lead to political chaos in a large number of countries in the world,” he added.
For his part, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kobrakov confirmed that his country is ready to resume export operations “in a few days”.
“In a few days, we are ready to start exporting from the Black Sea ports,” he said, broadcasting a video broadcast from Istanbul on Ukrainian national television.
He stressed that “the agreement was signed according to our conditions. There was no betrayal.”
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