Officials from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, and the United Nations have agreed to a deal to resume exports of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, according to Turkish and U.N. officials.
There was no immediate confirmation of the deal from Moscow or Kyiv.
While details of the agreement weren’t made immediately clear, before the most recent round of talks, negotiators had sought a resumption of Ukraine’s Black Sea grain exports as well as Russia’s own grain and fertilizer shipments. Additionally, Russia is believed to have requested guarantees that Turkey would inspect the ships for smuggled weapons, which the Kremlin fears could be used to bulk up Ukrainian forces.
Ukrainian vessels will need to guide grain ships in and out of ports, which have been heavily mined throughout the course of the war.
Russia was the world’s largest wheat exporter last year; Ukraine was the fifth largest. The two nations accounted for $12 billion in wheat exports in 2021, or roughly 21.6 percent of the global total.
Since the start in February of Russia’s invasion and subsequent war with Ukraine—which Russian leadership terms a special military operation—that proverbial breadbasket has been cut from the rest of the world, sparking food shortages and sharply higher prices.
Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman for the U.N. secretary-general’s office, said he hopes the deal would help to prevent catastrophe for those suffering from food shortages.
“We can potentially save hundreds of thousands, potentially millions of people, from having food be priced out of their reach.”
