On Friday 22 July, the European Union welcomed the agreements signed in Istanbul by Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations to unblock Black Sea ports to allow Ukrainian grain exports.
Ukraine and Russia have indeed reached arrangements on the export of Ukrainian grain, providing for ‘safe corridors’ to allow the movement of merchant vessels in the Black Sea.
In a statement, EU High Representative Josep Borrell says the agreement is a “crucial step in the efforts to overcome the global food insecurity caused by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine”. Its success will depend on the “swift and good faith implementation of the agreement reached”, he warned.
Josep Borrell recalls that Russia is deliberately destroying Ukraine’s agricultural and transport infrastructure and equipment.
The EU commends Turkey for the important role it played in negotiating this agreement and supporting its implementation. On Friday, Turkey said it was ready to help clear mines in the Black Sea to facilitate the export of Ukrainian grain.
A coordination centre in Istanbul. It will be led by delegates from the parties involved: a Ukrainian, a Russian, a Turk and a UN representative, assisted by their respective teams.
The coordination centre, which will be formed within a few days, will be responsible for scheduling ship rotations in the Black Sea. “I can’t give you a specific date. But at the latest, this will be settled in a fortnight and I think that operations can begin at that time”, UN Secretary General António Guterres said on Friday.
Departure and arrival inspections in Turkey. The inspection of the grain ships was a requirement of Moscow to ensure that they would not simultaneously deliver weapons to Ukraine.
These inspections will not take place at sea as was once envisaged for practical reasons, but will be carried out in Turkey, probably in Istanbul, which has two important commercial ports, at the entrance to the Bosphorus (Haydarpasa) and on the Marmara Sea (Ambarli).
Conducted by representatives of the four parties, under the authority of the coordination centre, they will take place at the departure and arrival of ships.
A safe shipping lane. The Russians and Ukrainians commit to a safe shipping corridor across the Black Sea, free of military activity.
The ships will depart from three Ukrainian ports - Odessa, Pivdenny (Yuzhne) and Chornomorsk.
Four months renewable. The agreement is signed for 120 days. While 20-25 million tonnes of grain are currently stored in Ukrainian port silos, and at a rate of eight million tonnes evacuated per month, this four-month period should be sufficient to clear stocks, although a new harvest is imminent.
A counterpart for Russian grain and fertiliser. An agreement was also reached to facilitate the export of Russian agricultural products and fertilisers at the request of Moscow, which wanted to protect them from Western sanctions. Russia made this a sine qua non condition for signing the agreement.
Ukraine and Russia initialled two identical but separate texts at the request of the Ukrainians who refused to sign any document with the Russians.
Link to Mr Borrell’s statement: https://aeur.eu/f/2pz (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)