Turkey announced on Friday that an agreement will be signed to allow Ukraine to resume grain exports. The agreement seeks to resolve Moscow and Kyiv’s disagreements and reservations about grain output mechanisms. Grain shipments will resume from three ports in Ukraine – Odessa, Chornomorsk, and Yuzhny. Meanwhile, a few hours before an agreement in this regard was signed in Istanbul, the Kremlin stated today that it is “extremely necessary” to let the shipment of grain that has been trapped in Ukrainian ports as a result of the Russian attack.
According to the Turkish Directorate of Communications, the agreement will be signed this afternoon at the Presidential Office at Dolmabahçe Palace.
The Liaison Department indicated that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will attend the signing ceremony.
On July 13, Istanbul hosted a military meeting attended by officials from Turkey, Russia, Ukraine, and the United Nations to discuss the transportation of grain stuck in Ukrainian ports.
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said that Istanbul will witness today the first step toward resolving the global food crisis. He added that this will be done with Guterres’ participation and the presence of Russian and Ukrainian delegations.
According to Deputy UN Spokesman Farhan Haq, the UN Secretary-General will travel to Istanbul at a time when Turkish and international officials are attempting to reach an agreement with Russia and Ukraine to resume Ukrainian grain exports and Russian fertilizer and food exports from Black Sea ports.
Moreover, the Kremlin said today that “it is critical to allow the export of grain that has become stuck in Ukrainian ports as a result of the Russian attack.”
“While this is a relatively small amount of Ukrainian grain, it is critical that these grains reach international markets,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
He also confirmed that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu will attend the signing ceremony with Ukraine in Istanbul.
In an article, Lavrov said that his country is not fueling a food crisis and pledged that it will continue to provide food and energy shipments in accordance with international agreements. “Speculations in Western and Ukrainian propaganda that Russia may export hunger are completely unfounded,” he wrote.
