Russia and Ukraine signed a landmark agreement with the United Nations and Turkey to restore food shipments, aimed at alleviating a global food crisis that has left millions of people starving.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister Kubrakov signed the exact same agreement with officials from the United Nations and Turkey, respectively, to reopen blocked Black Sea shipping routes.
Officials in Kyiv said they did not want their names to appear on the same document as Russians because of the five-month war that has killed thousands and displaced millions of Ukrainians.
Here’s what you might want to know:
What is the purpose of this agreement?
On February 24 this year, Russia launched a military operation against Ukraine that led to the de facto blockade of the Black Sea, causing Ukraine’s food exports to fall to one-sixth of pre-war levels. Both Ukraine and Russia are among the world‘s largest food exporters, and the blockade has led to a sharp rise in global food prices.
The agreement aims to help avert famine by flooding world markets with more wheat, sunflower oil, fertilizers and other products, in addition to humanitarian needs. The goal was to maintain pre-war export levels of 5 million tons of grain per month.
About 47 million people around the world are now suffering from “severe hunger” as a result of the war, according to the UN’s World Food Programme. Experts have long warned that a global food crisis will loom if Ukraine’s grain exports continue to be hampered.
Ukraine also needs to empty its grain silos ahead of the upcoming harvest, and exporting more fertilizer will avoid a drop in global production in future harvests.
Russia and the United Nations also signed a memorandum of understanding pledging that the United Nations will facilitate unhindered access to global markets for Russian fertilizers and other products.
Grain export agreement between Ukraine and Russia
Kyiv and Moscow signed agreements with the UN and Turkey respectively to allow Ukraine to resume the process of exporting food through its Black Sea ports, giving a glimmer of hope that the global food crisis caused by Russia’s military action will be eased (Al Jazeera)
When will grain exports resume?
According to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, related grain exports may be restarted “in the next few days”.
“Today, we have all the prerequisites and all the solutions to start the process in the next few days,” Shoigu said after signing the agreement.
Al Jazeera’s foreign affairs editor James Beth reported back from UN headquarters that it could be “weeks” before the first batch of food leaves Ukraine.
“The implementation of the agreement will be tested in the coming weeks,” Bess noted, noting that millions of tons of food are stagnated in Ukraine. “It will take some time to get all the grain out – experts estimate it could take four months,” he said.
The agreement is valid for 4 months (120 days) and will be automatically extended if the war is not over.
Which ports are included?
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the agreement would open the way for commercial food exports from three key ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny.
A UN official told Reuters the agreement included a “de facto ceasefire” for ships and covered facilities.
How will this agreement be implemented?
Guterres said a Joint Control Centre (JCC) will be set up in Istanbul to arrange and monitor the transport process.
According to Reuters, a United Nations official said the joint control center would be staffed by officials from the United Nations and possibly military officials from the three countries involved in the deal.
Although Ukraine has planted mines in the waters near ports as part of its war defenses, there is no need to clear mines anymore. Instead, Ukrainian pilots will guide ships in safe passages in their territorial waters and will be equipped with a minesweeper as needed, but no military frigates will be used.
Under the supervision of the Joint Control Center, the ships will travel through the Black Sea to Turkey’s Bosphorus and then to the world‘s major markets.
All parties have agreed not to attack these entities. Once any prohibited activity is identified, it will be the task of the joint control center to “fix” it, the official said, without elaborating.
In response to Russian concerns about the use of these vessels to deliver weapons to Ukraine, all returning vessels will be inspected in Turkish ports by a team of representatives from all parties, and the inspection process will be overseen by a joint control center. Teams will board the ships and assess the cargo before the ships return to Ukraine.
‘Beacon of Hope’: The World’s Response
Russia
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Moscow would not take advantage of the fact that the ports would be demined and opened. “We have made that commitment,” he stressed.
Ukraine
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kuleba said Kyiv trusted the United Nations, not Russia, to support the deal.
“Ukraine doesn’t trust Russia. I don’t think anyone has reason to trust Russia. We trust the United Nations as the driving force behind this deal,” Kuleba told an online news conference.
United Nations
After the “unprecedented” agreement was finalized, Guterres said, now “a beacon has appeared in the Black Sea”.
He also added, “This is a beacon of hope, possibility and relief in a world that needs it more than ever.”
Turkey
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the deal would “renew hopes for peace”.
He added after the signing of the agreement, “As ships start shipping in the next few days, we will open a new route from the Black Sea to many countries of the world.”
EU
Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said the deal was a “critical step” to help reduce global food insecurity.
“The EU remains committed to helping Ukraine get as much food as possible to global markets,” he tweeted.
U.S.
The U.S. called on Russia to allow Ukrainian grain exports quickly, and said it hoped the deal, brokered by Turkey, would be well-structured enough to monitor its implementation.
White House spokesman John Kirby told reporters, “We have every hope that today’s arrangements will be implemented quickly to prevent the world‘s most vulnerable populations from falling into greater levels of insecurity and malnutrition.”