An “important and substantive” step was taken this Wednesday (13) towards an agreement that would allow the resumption of grain exports from Ukraine through the Black Sea, said the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres.
Ukrainian, Russian and Turkish representatives met with UN officials in Istanbul to forge a deal to stem the global food crisis caused by the invasion of Ukraine, which has driven up prices for grain, cooking oil, fuel and fertilizers. The talks took place behind closed doors at an undisclosed location.
“I hope that next week we can have a final agreement. But, as I said, we still need a lot of goodwill and commitment from all parties,” Guterres told reporters in New York, adding that there was now technical work to be done to for the pact to materialize.
Despite the parties’ commitment to the grain issue, Guterres said that “for peace we still have a long way to go”.
Hulusi Akar, the Turkish defense minister, announced that the agreement will be signed when the parties meet again next week. Turkey must secure the flow and set up a grain export coordination center with representatives from Ukraine, Russia and the UN.
Russia is concerned about controlling and inspecting its own vessels to prevent weapons smuggling, according to the Russian news agency Interax Piotr Iliichev, head of the department of international organizations at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
More than 20 million tons of Ukrainian grain is trapped in silos in the port of Odesa, and dozens of ships have been stranded due to the Russian blockade. The country, along with Ukraine, is one of the largest grain exporters in the world. However, neither one nor the other commented on Wednesday’s agreement.
In addition to being major global suppliers of wheat, Russia is a major exporter of fertilizers, and Ukraine is a major producer of corn and sunflower oil. Striking a deal to unlock exports is seen as vital for food security — particularly among developing countries — and for stabilizing markets.
As leaders talked in Istanbul, several Ukrainian cities reported heavy Russian bombing. Without linking the grain deal to progress in negotiations to end the war, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleba was pessimistic about the prospects for peace.
Russia on Wednesday followed its advance into the breakaway province of Donetsk, which it intends to capture after dominating Lugansk a few weeks ago. A separatist official, Vitali Kiseliov, told Russian news agency Tass that Russian forces were about to take the city of Siversk. Ukraine denied it, saying only that the city was attacked by artillery.
Both Donetsk and Lugansk were recognized on Wednesday as independent states by North Korea, the third country to take this position. The others are Syria and Russia. After the announcement, Ukraine announced that it had cut ties with North Korea.
In a post on his Telegram channel, the leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin, said he expected “fruitful cooperation” and increased trade with North Korea, a country isolated by the international community and with nuclear weapons.
The Donetsk embassy in Moscow, which opened on Tuesday, posted a photo on its Telegram channel of a ceremony in which the North Korean ambassador to the city, Sin Hong-chol, hands over a certificate of recognition to envoy Olga Makeyeva. .
The North Korean embassy in Moscow confirmed that it recognized the independence of both entities, Russian news agency Tass later reported.
Russia, which has supported the regions since 2014, recognized both on the eve of its invasion of Ukraine in a move condemned by Kiev and the West as illegal. North Korea had previously expressed support for Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
