Russia, Ukraine and Turkey are signing a deal today backed by the United Nations to free up grain exports from Ukraine’s besieged Black Sea ports, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s office says.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will attend the event along with Erdogan at the Dolmabahce Palace offices at 13:30 GMT, the statement said.
“The grain export agreement, critically important for global food security, will be signed in Istanbul under the auspices of President Erdoğan and UN Secretary General Mr. Guterres together with Ukrainian and Russian delegations,” Erdogan spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said in a tweet.
Russia and Ukraine are both major global wheat suppliers and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has sent food prices soaring.
Guterres has been working on a plan that would enable Ukraine to export millions of tonnes of grain stockpiles that have been stuck in Ukraine’s Black Sea ports due to the war – a move that could ease a global food crisis. At least 22 million tonnes of grain are stuck in Ukraine.
Last week, the sides met in Istanbul, reaching a tentative agreement on the plan, which foresees joint controls of ships as they leave and arrive at Black Sea ports and a mechanism to ensure the safety of the transfer routes, Turkish officials said.
