Russia, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Nations signed an agreement on Friday in Istanbul to enable the export of Ukrainian grain via the Black Sea, which had previously been blocked by Russia, according to agencies reporting on an event that is expected to lead to a reduction in the food crisis.
During the signing ceremony in Istanbul, representatives from Russia and Ukraine did not sit at the same table, Reuters reports.
Kyiv and Moscow thus signed two identical texts, but they did so separately at Ukraine’s request, which refuses to initial any document with Russia.
Four delegations gathered at the Dolmabahçe Palace on the Bosphorus in Istanbul, including the UN delegation led by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and the Turkish delegation, which was strongly engaged in negotiations, led by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Present were Turkish and Russian defense ministers Hulusi Akar and Sergei Shoigu, while the Ukrainian ministry was led by Infrastructure Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov.
Earlier on Friday, official Kyiv announced that Ukraine is signing the long-awaited agreement on unblocking grain exports with the United Nations and Turkey, not with Russia.
"Ukraine is not signing any document with Russia. We are signing an agreement with Turkey and the UN, and we take all obligations towards them. Russia is signing a mirror agreement with Turkey and the UN," explained Ukrainian President’s advisor Mykhailo Podolyak.
More than 20 million tons of grain in blocked Ukrainian Black Sea ports will now be able to be exported.
"This agreement was not easily achieved," said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the signing ceremony, calling the agreement "a beacon in the Black Sea."
The UN expects the agreement to be implemented in a few weeks and that pre-war quantities of grain will be exported again, two senior UN officials said on Friday, according to Reuters.
Ukraine is one of the world’s largest grain exporters. According to the World Food Programme (WFP), 47 million people are exposed to an increased threat of "hunger" since the start of the war in Ukraine.
The agreement is expected to last at least 120 days, and UN officials predict it will be renewed after it expires.
