Russia and Ukraine are expected to sign the United Nations-proposed deal to free food grain & fertilizers export on July 22 in Turkey, in presence of UN chief.
Ending months of palpable talks, Russia and Ukraine are expected to sign the United Nations-proposed deal to free food grain and fertilizers export on July 22, Friday, said a statement by the office of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The agreement, which reached to resume grain exports via the Black Sea amid the looming global food crisis, will be locked “under the auspices” of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, alongside Erdogan around 1:30 pm (GMT), Erdogan’s spokesperson Ibrahim Kalin said in a statement. The announcement comes after Guterres left for Istanbul late on Thursday.
Both Russia and Ukraine are among the major wheat producers in the world. The grain exports through the Ukrainian coast of the Black Sea are critical to mitigating the imminent global food insecurity, especially in the vulnerable African nations and further East. The outbound shipments stopped after Russia besieged the southern port cities and blockaded the sea coast in Odesa, Mariupol, Mykolaiv, Kherson, and more for nearly 4 months, leaving some 22 million grains stuck in silos in the country, shooting up food prices.
Last week, Turkey, Ukraine and Russia joined hands to reach a tentative agreement and agreed to set up a 4-member center for the resumption of grain exports through the Ukrainian Black Sea corridor. Officials of the respective countries said that they have decided to establish the facility in Istanbul and added that both warring parties reached a consensus on a system of joint control over the grain at seaports.
