Capitals (Union, Agencies)
Yesterday, the UAE stressed the need for the full implementation of the agreement concluded in Istanbul between Russia and Ukraine under the auspices of the United Nations, to export grain, food and fertilizers, praising the valuable role of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Republic of Turkey.
In a statement to the Security Council on the Ukraine crisis, the UAE said: “We welcome the Istanbul Agreement on the export of grain, food and fertilizers, and appreciate the valuable role of the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Republic of Turkey,” adding: “We believe that this agreement is a step towards the right path, but measuring its success depends on full implementation.” ».
She noted that positive developments in this conflict were very scarce, stressing the need to take confidence-building measures towards broader agreements.
It noted the need to protect civilians, calling on the parties to abide by international humanitarian law and to avoid targeting civilians.
This comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the Black Sea port of Chornomorsk yesterday, to confirm his country’s readiness to start shipping grain under an agreement brokered by the United Nations aimed at alleviating the global food shortage crisis, and said that Kyiv was waiting for the start signal for the first shipment to leave.
On a rare trip outside Kyiv since the Russian offensive began on February 24, Zelensky said on Telegram, after visiting the port near the southern city of Odessa: “We are ready to export Ukrainian grain, and we are waiting for our partners to signal the start of transportation.” He expressed his belief that exports can resume “today or tomorrow.”
“It is important to us that we remain guarantors of global food security,” he said in comments posted alongside pictures of him meeting officials in front of the docked ship (Polarent).
Russia and Ukraine are major global wheat suppliers. The agreement brokered by the United Nations and signed by the two countries in Istanbul last week aims to ease the food crisis and reduce global grain prices, which have risen since the start of the Ukraine crisis.
The agreement aims to allow safe passage of grain shipments to and from the ports of Chornomorsk, Odessa and Bivdnyi. Russia holds Ukraine responsible for halting shipments due to port water mines.
Officials from the presidency said that there are 17 ships anchored in the ports of Ukraine on the Black Sea, carrying nearly 600,000 tons of cargo. He added that among them, 16 ships containing Ukrainian grain, with a total tonnage of about 580,000 tons.
For his part, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kobrakov told reporters in Odessa that Chornomorsk and Odessa are ready to start shipping grain, expressing hope that the Bivdny port will be ready by the end of the week.
He said, “We hope that today we will receive confirmation from the United Nations regarding the proposed corridor in which the ships will sail through the Black Sea towards the Bosphorus Strait, and then we will be ready to set out… I hope that the first ships will leave our ports before the end of this week.”
Kobrakov did not say how much grain would be shipped, and he did not give other details of the planned shipments.
“This initiative, if it succeeds, as we hope and expect, and if our Turkish partners and the United Nations can guarantee its implementation, we are convinced that world grain prices will drop,” he said.
The loading of 12,000 tons of grain has begun, and the loading is scheduled to be completed by Sunday noon, according to the plan, Ahmet Yucel Ali Beyler, the captain of the ship (Polarent), said.
“After that, we will start passing through the designated grain corridor towards Turkey along with other ships as the convoy leading the ship,” he said.
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