Ukraine-News - Zelenskyy: Grain deal "fully in line with interests"
Created: 07/23/2022, 07:15
By: Fee Halberstadt, Nail Akkoyun, Jan-Frederik Wendt
A diplomatic breakthrough is achieved in the Ukraine war: the warring parties Russia and Ukraine sign a grain agreement.
Zelenskyj expresses himself.
Update from Saturday, July 23, 7:15 a.m .:
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has praised the grain deal with Russia.
The agreement was "completely in the interests of Ukraine," Zelensky said in a video speech on Saturday night.
"Now we can not only resume the work of our Black Sea ports, but also maintain the necessary protection for them."
According to Zelensky, Ukraine can now export a total of 20 million tons of grain from last year's harvest.
Inventories worth around 10 billion US dollars (9.8 billion euros) are stored.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his delight at the grain deal with Russia (symbolic photo).
© dpa
Grain deal between Ukraine and Russia: Farmer expresses skepticism
+++ 8 p.m.:
Many farmers from Ukraine waited as long as possible with the wheat harvest in the hope that the situation in their home country would change.
This also includes the farmer Rachmon Mirzoyev.
Ukraine and Russia have now signed a grain agreement in Istanbul that provides for secured corridors in the Black Sea.
The Ukraine War in Pictures - Destruction, Resistance and Hope
View photo gallery
But Mirsoyev was skeptical even before signing, as reported by
AFP
.
He cannot imagine that Russian President Vladimir Putin will keep his promises.
"To be honest, I personally don't really believe it's going well.
But what then?
Do we have to throw away all the grain?” asks the farmer.
"We have no choice, we have to hope it works."
"Historical day": Russia and Ukraine sign grain agreement in Istanbul
+++ 16:55:
After delegates from Russia and Ukraine signed a grain agreement separately in Istanbul, UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, among others, made statements.
also read
Ex-Merkel adviser will soon see an irrevocable advantage for Putin - "Then we no longer need to negotiate"
Ukraine counter-offensive: Putin's henchman Medvedev draws a red line and threatens "Last Judgment"
The deal "opens the way for large-scale commercial food exports from three key Ukrainian Black Sea ports -- Odessa, Chornomorsk and Yuzhnyy," Guterres said.
"This is an agreement for the world." Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was also present at the ceremony, spoke of a "historic day".
"With the shipping traffic starting in the coming days, we will open a new airway from the Black Sea to many countries around the world," said the Turkish head of government.
Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the grain conflict with his Turkish counterpart Erdogan at a meeting in the Iranian capital Tehran on Tuesday (July 19).
Grain agreement between Ukraine and Russia: the individual points
+++ 16:20: According to
The Guardian
, more details about the agreement between Russia and Ukraine
are now known.
As reported by several UN officials, the following points were written into the agreement:
A coalition of Turkish, Ukrainian and UN officials will oversee grain loading onto ships in Ukrainian ports before setting off on a pre-planned route through the Black Sea, which remains heavily mined by Ukrainian and Russian forces.
Using a provided map, Ukrainian pilot ships are supposed to guide the merchant ships transporting the grain safely through the mined areas along the coast.
In Turkey's Bosporus Strait, ships will be closely monitored and checked by a joint coordination center in Istanbul, home to representatives from the UN, Ukraine, Russia and Turkey.
Ships entering Ukraine are inspected under the supervision of a joint coordination center to ensure they are not carrying weapons or items that could be used in war.
Russia and Ukraine have agreed not to attack merchant ships or ports involved in transporting essential food.
+++ 16:13:
The grain agreement between Russia and Ukraine, as well as Turkey and the United Nations has just been signed.
According to the British newspaper The Guardian
, UN Secretary-General António Guterres spoke of a "glimmer of hope"
ahead of the signing ceremony in Istanbul .
Ukraine war news: Ukraine and Russia sign separate treaty
Update from Friday, July 22, 3:40 p.m .:
As the Kiev government said on Friday, Ukraine will only sign an agreement with Turkey and the United Nations to resume grain exports interrupted by the Ukraine war, and no direct agreements close with Russia itself.
“Ukraine does not sign any documents with Russia.
We will sign an agreement with Turkey and the UN [the United Nations],” Presidential Advisor Mykhaylo Podolyak wrote on Twitter, adding that Moscow will sign a separate agreement, although the content is likely to be almost identical.
News on the Ukraine war: Russia and Ukraine want to sign grain agreements
First report from Friday, July 22:
Istanbul – An agreement to end the Russian grain blockade in the Black Sea is to be signed in Turkey on Friday (July 22) at 3:30 p.m. (CEST).
To this end, a control center will be set up, which will be managed by the United Nations and staffed by representatives of Russia, Ukraine and Turkey.
The
German Press Agency
learned this from diplomatic circles in New York.
The exact coordinates for the humanitarian corridor by sea between Ukraine and the Bosphorus are also to be determined at this headquarters in the Turkish metropolis.
The
AFP
news agency also reported on it.
News about the Ukraine war: Russia and Ukraine are among the largest wheat exporters
Russia and Ukraine are among the largest wheat exporters and play an important role in world food security.
Because of the Russian war of aggression against the neighboring country, millions of tons of grain cannot be exported from Ukraine.
However, the food is urgently needed on the world market – especially in Asia and Africa.
The United Nations recently warned of the worst famine in decades.
News on the Ukraine war: Grain agreement - Ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine in strategically important places
According to the information, the parties agreed that ships bound for Ukraine would first be searched in Istanbul to ensure that they were not carrying weapons or the like.
There should be another check in Turkey if the ships coming from Ukraine want to leave the Black Sea again.
This is to ensure that only grain is on board.
Ships in the humanitarian corridor and the ports involved should not be attacked by Russia or Ukraine.
This point is interpreted in New York in such a way that a ceasefire should actually apply in these strategically important places - for example in the port of Odessa.
According to the information, the agreement will initially apply for four months.
Grain agreement between Russia and Ukraine: Signing in Istanbul
According to the information, however, the implementation of the agreement and the export of food from Ukraine could take weeks.
The West noted that it was still possible that Moscow could still scuttle the agreements on trumped-up grounds.
The agreement in Istanbul is expected to be signed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, among others.
So far it has been unclear which delegations will arrive from Russia and Ukraine.
Representatives of the UN, Ukraine, Russia and Turkey had already made great progress in negotiations in Istanbul.
The agreement that has now apparently been reached would be the United Nations' greatest mediation success since the beginning of the Ukraine war, after the world organization had already helped with the evacuation of Ukrainian civilians in the city of Mariupol.
It could also be the most significant compromise between Moscow and Kyiv in the conflict to date.
(nak/fh with AFP/dpa)