Moscow and Kyiv signed a UN-brokered deal today to resume Ukrainian grain exports to help ease the global food crisis amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.
At the signing in Istanbul, Russian and Ukrainian government ministers signed the deal separately, did not sit at the same table, and avoided shaking hands.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the deal that he helped oversee – to restore exports to the pre-war level of 5 million tonnes a month – would be central to alleviating hunger in developing countries.
He said the deal would “prevent billions of people from facing famine”, while UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres – who also oversaw the agreement – hailed it as a “beacon of hope”.
The UN expects the deal to be fully operational in a few weeks. Under the plan, Ukrainian officials will guide ships through safe channels across mine-ridden waters to three ports in the Black Sea, including the hub of Odesa.
The ships will then be loaded with grain before they exit Ukrainian territorial waters, enter the Bosphorus strait to a Turkish port for inspection, and later head to their destinations.
