Russia and Ukraine are both major global suppliers of wheat, but Moscow’s February 24 invasion of its neighbor has sent food prices skyrocketing and sparked an international food crisis. The war has halted Kiev’s exports, leaving dozens of ships stranded and some 20 million tons of grain trapped in silos in the port of Odessa. Ankara said a general agreement on a UN-led plan had been reached during talks in Istanbul last week and would now be submitted in writing by the parties. Details of the deal were not immediately available. It is expected to be signed on Friday at the Dolma Bahçe Palace offices at 13:30 GMT, Erdogan’s office said. Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register There was no immediate confirmation from Moscow. The Kiev government also did not confirm that an agreement had been reached. The foreign ministry said late Thursday that another round of UN-led talks on unblocking Ukrainian grain exports would take place in Turkey on Friday. Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said last week that the agreement to be signed includes joint inspections to control shipments at ports. Turkey will also establish a coordination center with Ukraine, Russia and the United Nations on grain exports. Before the July 13 talks, diplomats said details of the plan included Ukrainian vessels guiding grain ships in and out of mined harbor waters. Russia agrees to armistice on shipment transfer. and Turkey – backed by the United Nations – is inspecting ships to allay Russian fears of arms smuggling. The United States welcomed the deal and said it was focused on holding Russia accountable for its implementation. “We should never have been in this position in the first place,” State Department spokesman Ned Price said. “This was a deliberate decision on the part of the Russian Federation to weaponize food.” The United Nations and Turkey have been working for two months to broker what Guterres called a “package” deal – to resume grain exports to Ukraine’s Black Sea and facilitate Russian grain and fertilizer shipments. Ukraine could potentially restart exports quickly, Ukrainian Deputy Agriculture Minister Taras Vysotsky said earlier Thursday. “The majority of the infrastructure of the ports of Greater Odessa – there are three of them – remains, so it is a matter of several weeks in case there are proper security guarantees,” he told Ukrainian TV. Moscow has denied responsibility for the worsening food crisis, blaming instead the chilling effect of Western sanctions for slowing its own food and fertilizer exports and Ukraine for mining its Black Sea ports. A day after last week’s Istanbul talks, the United States sought to facilitate Russian food and fertilizer exports by reassuring banks, shipping and insurance companies that such transactions would not violate Washington’s sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine. read more Sign up now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Register Report by Michelle Nichols. additional reporting by Natalia Zinets in Kyiv, Yesim Dikmen in Istanbul and Simon Lewis in Washington; edited by Susan Heavey and Jonathan Oatis Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
