Two separate agreements have been reached with Turkey and the UN, as kyiv refused to sign the text directly with Moscow.
The war continues in Ukraine, but after five months of violence the two sides have sat down at a table in Istanbul to announce an agreement that unblocks the export of Ukrainian grain and Russian fertilizers through the Black Sea. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, on one side of the table, and Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, on the other, have put their signatures on the document under the watchful eye of António Guterres and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkey has become the great mediator in this conflict and has reached an agreement that represents “a first step to resolve the food crisis” that affects much of the Middle East and Africa, the main destination areas for Ukrainian grain until the outbreak of the war on February 24. Erdogan and the Secretary General of the UN have presided over the signing of a temporary pact which has transpired that it will have an initial duration of 120 days, as reported by ‘Al Jazeera’, and extends to the ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny. The deal may be renewed automatically without the need for a new negotiation and at this time it is estimated that 25 tons of grain are waiting in the Ukrainian silos to be exported.
kyiv and Moscow have not hidden the enormous mistrust between the parties. The Russians fear that the arrival of ships will serve as an entry point for weapons for the enemy and the Ukrainians are concerned about the safety of the shipments. From kyiv they have also insisted that “we are only going to support solutions that guarantee the security of the southern regions of Ukraine, a strong position of the Ukrainian armed forces in the Black Sea and the safe export of Ukrainian agricultural products”, according to statements to the AFP agency by the Foreign Ministry spokesman, Oleg Nikolenko. The presidential adviser, Mijailo Podoliak, has clarified via Twitter that «Ukraine is not going to sign any document with Russia. We signed an agreement with Turkey and the UN and we are committed to them. Russia will sign a mirror agreement.
overall impact
Guterres was the first to speak and took the opportunity to thank Erdogan for the mediation work that Turkey has carried out in the war in Ukraine from the very beginning. The Portuguese president of the international organization has assured that it is an agreement “good for the whole world, especially for developing countries, since it will serve to stabilize the price of food at a time of global crisis.” The UN has advanced the establishment of a joint coordination center to supervise compliance with the text. Turkey’s role is key because they control the traffic of all these ships through the Bosporus.
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