Two separate agreements have been signed with Turkey and the UN, as Kiev refused to sign the text directly with Moscow.
The war in Ukraine continues, but after five months of violence, the two sides have sat down at a table in Istanbul to announce an agreement that will unblock the export of Ukrainian grain and Russian fertilizers through the Black Sea. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, on one side of the table, and Ukraine’s Infrastructure Minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, on the other, signed the document under the watchful eye of António Guterres and Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Turkey has become the major mediator in this conflict, reaching an agreement that is “a first step to solve the food crisis” that affects much of the Middle East and Africa, the main destinations for Ukrainian grain until the outbreak of the war by February 24. Erdogan and the UN Secretary General have presided over the signing of a temporary pact that has been revealed to have an initial duration of 120 days, as reported by ‘Al Jazeera’, and extends to the ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny . The deal can be automatically extended without the need for new negotiations and an estimated 25 tons of grain are currently in Ukrainian silos waiting to be exported.
Kiev and Moscow have not hidden the enormous mistrust between the parties. The Russians fear that the arrival of ships will serve as a gateway for weapons for the enemy and the Ukrainians are concerned about the security of the shipments. From Kiev, they also insisted that “we will only support solutions that guarantee the security of the southern regions of Ukraine, a strong position of the Ukrainian armed forces in the Black Sea and the safe export of Ukrainian agricultural products,” statements to the government said. AFP agency by Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko. Presidential adviser Mijailo Podoliak has clarified via Twitter that “Ukraine will not sign any document with Russia. We have signed an agreement with Turkey and the UN and we are committed to them. Russia will sign a mirror agreement.
Guterres was the first to speak and took the opportunity to thank Erdogan for the mediation work Turkey has carried out from the very beginning in the war in Ukraine. The Portuguese president of the international organization has assured that the agreement is “good for the whole world, especially for developing countries, because it will serve to stabilize the price of food at a time of global crisis.” The UN has made progress in establishing a joint coordination center to monitor compliance with the text. Turkey’s role is crucial because they control the traffic of all these ships through the Bosphorus.
Source: La Verdad
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