Grain agreement: Coordination center opened in Istanbul - but Ukraine already has "Plan B"

Created: 07/27/2022, 18:40

By: Bettina Menzel

The Control Center for Monitoring Ukrainian Grain Exports (JCC), agreed by Russia and Ukraine, has officially opened in Istanbul.

Pictured is a delegation of Turkish military (July 27).

© OZAN KOSE / AFP)

An agreement between Ukraine and Russia should now enable Ukrainian grain exports.

But if the grain deal fails, Ukraine apparently has a “Plan B”.

Kyiv - In Ukraine, more than 20 million tons of grain are stored and threatened to rot because of Russia's naval blockade.

Elsewhere, the food is urgently needed.

Last Friday, Ukraine and Russia signed an agreement brokered by the Turkish government and the United Nations that is intended to regulate grain exports.

The coordination center in Istanbul started its work on Wednesday.

But Ukraine is already preparing a "Plan B" - and not without reason.

Grain exports from Ukraine: This agreement now applies between the warring parties

Ukraine and Russia are considered the "breadbaskets of the world".

Grain exports have plummeted since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, causing food shortages in many countries.

The warring parties blame each other for stopping exports.

But now there has been a rapprochement: Around five months after the start of the Ukraine war, the Turkish government and the United Nations (UNO) were able to mediate between the two countries.

Ukraine and Russia signed an agreement last Friday to resume grain exports across the Black Sea.

In it, the two countries undertake to set up secure sea corridors for grain freighters and to refrain from military attacks there.

The cargo ships are said to be escorted by Ukrainian military boats when leaving and entering the ports and observed from Istanbul.

But just a day after signing the agreement, Russia attacked the port of Odessa.

Moscow referred to the fact that the army had targeted "military infrastructure" and pleaded for the agreement to continue to apply and be observed from a Russian perspective.

The agreement itself does not explicitly exclude the shooting of military objects, but observers saw the attack as a demonstration of power by Russia.

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Should coordinate grain exports: Control center opened in Istanbul

The opening ceremony of the agreed control center for monitoring Ukrainian grain exports was held in Istanbul on Wednesday.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar remained optimistic.

He believes the center will make a significant contribution to overcoming the food crisis, he said on Wednesday. 

Akar took the fact that Ukraine, Russia and the UN sent representatives just one day after it was signed as a sign of their determination to implement the agreement.

Civilians and military men worked in the center - five representatives from each party.

The defense minister said at a press conference that there were 25 million tons of grain waiting to be exported at three Ukrainian ports.

More than 20 million tons of grain are waiting to be exported in Ukraine.

The country must clear the grain elevators for the new harvest this year.

(symbol photo).

© dpa

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Grain exports: That's why Ukraine is preparing a plan B

The fact that Russia attacked the port of Odessa with rockets a day after the agreement on the grain deal apparently makes Ukraine skeptical.

At least that's what a statement by Ukraine's infrastructure minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, suggests.

If Russia keeps shelling the port infrastructure, Ukraine will “go to plan B, which we used before.

That is, we will use the Danube ports, we will use the railway and load as much [grain] as possible," the minister said, according to information from the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform.

The railway export would pass through Poland, Slovakia and Hungary.

“That means we will use whatever is available.

And we will also use trucks,” announced Kubrakov on Wednesday.

Accordingly, Ukraine's plan B also provides for cooperation with the USA.

This was confirmed by the head of the US Agency for International Development, Samantha Power, to the news channel CNN.

"US and Ukrainian officials are working on a contingency plan to move grain exports out of the country if the deal with Russia fails," Power said.

"Plan B includes road, rail and river transport, as well as sending in barges and aligning rail systems with European systems to allow for faster exports," the US agency chief said.

What could motivate Russia to comply with the agreement?

Political observers believe: not much.

The advantages of the agreement are therefore more on the Ukrainian side.

But Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is currently on a trip to Africa.

African countries are particularly affected by the food shortage caused by the naval blockade of the Black Sea.

That could at least be a motivation for Russia