ISTANBUL (AP) – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the first meeting in weeks between Russia and Ukraine was a “critical step” on Wednesday to ensure the export of desperately needed grain from Black Sea ports of Ukraine to help alleviate the global food crisis.
Turkey’s defense minister said the agreements will be signed when negotiators meet again in Istanbul next week.
The head of the UN warned that “more technical work will now be needed” to reach an agreement, “but the impetus is clear … I’m excited. I’m optimistic, but it’s not quite over yet.”
With the war in Ukraine in its fifth month and much of the world seeing food prices rising and millions in developing countries facing hunger and possible starvation, it is crucial to get grain shipments and fertilizers are moving back from two of the world’s leading exporters.
Guterres proposed a package in early June to unblock shipments of Ukrainian wheat and other Black Sea food crops and lift restrictions on grain and fertilizer exports from Russia. He kept his lips closed on progress, until Wednesday.
The UN chief spoke in New York, hours after military officials from Russia, Ukraine and Turkey met with UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths in Istanbul to discuss the obstacles to a deal, mainly on how send about 22 million tons of grain stuck in Ukraine because of the war.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said the parties reached an agreement on “joint control” of ships as they leave and arrive at Black Sea ports to collect grain and the safety of transfer routes. A coordination center would be established in Istanbul and would include UN officials, Turks, Russians and Ukrainians, he said.
Turkey, a member of NATO, has maintained close ties with both Moscow and Ukraine and has worked with both countries and the UN to reach an agreement. It has been offered to provide safe corridors of the Black Sea.
Akar said the talks were held in a constructive atmosphere. “We see that the parties are willing to resolve this issue,” he said, anticipating agreements next week.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his country’s delegation in the talks had informed him that they were moving forward.
He said he was grateful to the United Nations and Turkey for their efforts to restore Ukraine’s agricultural exports. “If they manage to eliminate the Russian threat to shipping in the Black Sea, it will reduce the severity of the global food crisis,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address.
Russia said it had submitted a package of proposals for a “practical and quick solution” to unblock Ukrainian grain exports, but gave no further details.
Guterres said Wednesday that there has been “very significant progress and I would say broad agreement” on how to ensure the safe export of Ukrainian food products across the Black Sea. Now, he said, there is “a ray of hope to alleviate human suffering and alleviate hunger around the world” and bring “much-needed stability to the global food system.”
He cited “a substantive agreement in many respects” related to the control of navigation, the coordination of the operation and the demining of the Black Sea.
He said the UN, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey will work together to ensure the deal is implemented effectively.
Experts have warned that an agreement will not have an immediate impact. It will take time to make sure there are no mines in the Black Sea shipping channel and then bring cargo ships to Odessa, the largest Black Sea port in Ukraine. Inspections will have to be made and arrangements made to ship the 22 million tonnes of grain that the President of Ukraine says are now in silos.
The UN, Turkey and other officials are fighting for a solution that would empty the silos in time for the next harvest in Ukraine. Part of the grain is now transported through Europe by rail, road and river, but the amount is small compared to the Black Sea routes.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations says the war in Ukraine is endangering the supply of food to many developing countries and could worsen the hunger of up to 181 million people.
Ukraine is one of the world’s largest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil, but the invasion and war of Russia has interrupted production and stopped shipments across the Black Sea to the Mediterranean.
Prior to the talks, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told The Associated Press that grain exports from his country’s ports would not resume without security guarantees for shipowners, the owners of the burden and to keep Ukraine as an independent nation.
Any agreement must ensure that Russia “will respect these corridors, will not enter the port and attack the ports or will not attack the ports from the air with its missiles,” he said.
Russian and Ukrainian officials have negotiated allegations about shipments of stranded grain.
Moscow claims that Ukraine’s heavily mined ports are causing the delay. Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised that Moscow would not use the corridors to launch an attack if the sea mines were removed.
But Ukrainian officials have blamed a Russian naval blockade for stopping exports and provoking the global food crisis. They are skeptical of Putin’s promise not to take advantage of the cleaned corridors of the Black Sea to carry out attacks on Ukrainian ports, and noted that this year he repeatedly insisted he had no plans to invade Ukraine.
Prior to the talks, Pyotr Ilyichev, head of the department of links with international organizations of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said the Russian army had repeatedly expressed its willingness to allow safe navigation corridors in the Black Sea.
Seventy ships from 16 countries have been stranded in Ukrainian ports, Ilishev said, alleging that Ukrainian authorities had banned them from leaving.
“Our conditions are clear: we must have a way to control and check ships to prevent any attempt to smuggle weapons, and Kyiv must refrain from any provocation,” Interfax news agency said. Russia, citing Ilishev.
Western sanctions on Russia do not prohibit exports of food or fertilizers. But Moscow argues that Western sanctions on its banking and shipping industries make it impossible for Russia to export those goods and frighten foreign shipping companies.
“We still need a lot of goodwill and commitment from all parties,” Guterres said. “In the end, the goal of all parties is not just an agreement between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, but an agreement for the world.”
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Fraser reported from Ankara and Lederer reported to the United Nations.
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