Photo credit: pxhere.com (CC0 Public Domain)
Russia has signed documents on lifting restrictions on food exports and on facilitating the export of grain from Ukraine, RIA Novosti reports. Russia was represented by Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and UN head António Guterres also signed their names.
Earlier, the agreement was signed by a representative of Ukraine, also with Turkey and the UN. The agreement was concluded on Friday, July 22, in Istanbul.
According to the agreements, Ukrainian grain will be exported from the ports of Odessa, Chornomorsk and Yuzhny along the agreed safe corridor with the participation of Ukrainian pilots. The process will be supervised by a coordinating center, which will be created under the auspices of the UN. Military escort is not allowed for ships; warships, aircraft and drones should not approach them.
It was decided to abandon demining in the territorial waters of Ukraine, since it would require too much time.
The agreement remains active for 120 days, in the future it can be extended.
The UN has repeatedly warned about the threat of a food crisis due to a shortage of grains, Western countries accused Russia of blockade of the Black Sea ports. Moscow rejects these accusations and points out that Kyiv itself created numerous obstacles to exports: in addition to setting fire to grain in the Mariupol port, Ukrainian troops mined the Black Sea.
The agreement suggests that 25 million tons of grain will enter the world food markets, it will be loaded on 80 dry cargo ships.
Russkiy Mir
