An agreement to create a grain corridor to transport Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea is expected to be signed on Friday in Istanbul.
The Turkish presidential administration said Thursday that the signing of the grain export agreement is scheduled for July 22 at 4:30 p.m. (local time coincides with Moscow time) at the Dolmabahce Palace. According to the Turkish side, representatives of Ukraine and Russia, as well as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and UN Secretary-General António Guterres will take part in the ceremony.
Meanwhile, the UN secretary-general has already arrived in Istanbul "as part of efforts to ensure full access to Ukrainian food in the world, as well as food and fertilizers from Russia," Guterres' office said on Twitter. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko admitted the possibility of signing the agreement on July 22, but only if there are guarantees of security in the southern regions of the country. There was no official confirmation of Russia's participation in the meeting.
US support
The United States has already commented on the possible signing of an agreement, saying it would welcome such arrangements. Ned Price, the State Department spokesman, said the United States coordinated with Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations during the talks on grain exports and will continue to work with its allies to ensure the agreement is implemented.
The progress of the negotiations
The issue of organizing a grain corridor from Ukraine's Black Sea ports was moved forward during four-party talks in Istanbul on July 13. At that time, Russia presented a package of proposals for a practical solution to the problem. Participants in the meeting largely supported Russia's proposals and said they would hold a second round of talks as soon as possible, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov said.
Since then, the talks have continued in a video format and have proceeded, as Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said, "quite dynamically." However, Mikhail Podolyak, an aide to the head of Ukraine's presidential office, claimed that the talks were progressing hard, including because of the guarantees Kiev was allegedly demanding from Moscow.
Contents of the document
According to a TASS source in Ankara, the final document of the "Black Sea Initiative" will consist of several sections: on the creation of a coordination center under the aegis of the UN, which will include representatives of the military and customs of the contracting parties; on demining of Ukrainian ports; on joint control at the entrances and exits of ports; on ensuring security of agricultural products transportation routes.
According to the Yeni Şafak newspaper, Ukraine will carry out demining and it will also determine the routes of vessels carrying the grain. There are expected to be three such routes. It is expected that the grain corridor will become operational almost immediately after the document on its creation is signed. Representatives of the three countries will be present in the ports from where the grain will be exported and they will monitor the process of its transportation directly from the departure of ships from Ukrainian ports to their entry into Istanbul.
According to Rustem Umerov, a member of the Ukrainian delegation at the talks, three ports will be opened for the export of grain: Odessa, Yuzhny and Chernomorsk. Together with the military, safe routes have been developed, and a monitoring group under the aegis of the UN, according to him, will ensure that ships do not carry weapons.
For its part, The New York Times, citing anonymous government sources, reported on Thursday that Turkey will ensure that ships bound for Ukraine's port are inspected. At the same time, some of the mine barriers near ports in southern Ukraine will be removed, and the passage of ships to international waters will be ensured by the Ukrainian navy and coast guard. Full demining will not be carried out.
Moscow is ready to guarantee security
Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier dismissed accusations that Russia allegedly does not allow grain to be taken out of Ukrainian ports. He assured that Moscow is ready to guarantee the unhindered export of grain if Kiev demines their water areas and stressed that it was not Russia that mined the approaches to the harbors. Moscow also promises not to use the situation to "launch any attacks from the sea.
In addition, on July 19 in Tehran, Putin indicated that Moscow was ready to facilitate the export of Ukrainian grain, provided all restrictions on Russian food exports are lifted.
During talks on the export of Ukrainian grain, Kiev stipulated the cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of forces, as well as the provision of security guarantees for vessels carrying Ukrainian grain.
Alternative routes
Back in early June, the Russian president voiced a whole list of ways to export Ukrainian grain: in addition to the ports controlled by Ukraine, this can also be done through ports in the Sea of Azov, which are controlled by Russia, through the Danube and Romania, through Hungary, through Poland and through the territory of Belarus to the ports of the Baltic states.
Kiev's Western partners studied the possibility of exporting Ukrainian wheat through the Baltic Sea ports as an alternative to the sea route, which implies their preliminary delivery to Poland, Lithuania and Latvia by rail or road. However, Ukraine's railroad capacity is overloaded with military shipments.
According to President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky, his country used to export 10 million tons of agricultural products per month through Ukrainian ports, but now it can export only 2 million tons of cargoes by rail. The head of the European Union External Action Service Josep Borrell said that from April to July the EU had managed to export 5.8 million tons of grain from Ukraine. In total, according to the Ukrainian authorities, the country has 22m tonnes of grain, with another 60m tonnes expected in the autumn.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: LoggaWiggler/Pixabay
Based on materials TASS