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War in Ukraine The war in Ukraine will reduce cereal production in West Africa by 20%
The agreement to allow the
export of cereals blocked
in
Ukrainian ports
will be signed in Istanbul on Friday, the Turkish Presidency announced in a statement on Thursday.
"The signing ceremony of the grain shipment agreement, in which the (Turkish) president,
Recep Tayyip Erdogan
, and the United Nations Secretary General,
António Guterres
, will be present, will take place at 4:30 p.m. in the Dolmabahçe Office, with the participation of Ukraine and Russia," he stated in a concise press release.
It is estimated that in Ukrainian ports
there are currently more than 20 million tons of cereals
and sunflower seeds that cannot reach the market as a result of the
blockade of the Black Sea
after the
Russian invasion of Ukraine
.
The lack of these grains in international markets
threatens a food crisis
and famine.
According to the first information,
Moscow has obtained in return the possibility of exporting cereals and fertilizers
, reports
Corriere della sera
.
Ukraine feared that the reopening of trade routes in the Black Sea would make it more vulnerable to Russian attacks at sea.
While the Kremlin feared that the commercial ships were hiding weapons.
Guterres, very active in the negotiation
The Turkish government's announcement took place shortly after the UN reported that Guterres had interrupted his vacation to travel to Istanbul in the next few hours, where he was already last week to participate in the negotiations on the grains blocked by the
war in Ukraine
.
Guterres "is traveling to Istanbul as part of his efforts to ensure full global access to Ukrainian food and Russian food and fertilizer," UN spokesman Farhan Haq said in New York.
Following last week's
"four-way meeting" with military representatives from Russia, Ukraine and Turkey
, Guterres sounded cautiously optimistic, speaking of "a key step forward" and "a ray of light".
On Monday, the Turkish Defense Minister,
Hulisi Akar
, considered a new meeting this week "likely", but without giving signs that a definitive agreement was close to being sealed.
He pointed out then that "the establishment of an
operations center in Istanbul, the joint controls in the ports of departure and destination
, and the guarantee of the safety of navigation in the transfer routes are the main technical issues" that were addressed in the ongoing diplomatic contacts.
According to Haq, along with Guterres, the Deputy Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs, Martin Griffith, and the Secretary General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (Unctad), Rebeca Grynspan, are now traveling to Istanbul.
The US applauds the agreement, but warns that Russia must now comply with it
The spokesman for the United States
Department of State
,
Ned Price
, has applauded the agreement that Russia and Ukraine will sign this Friday for the export of Ukrainian grain, although he has warned that
the "important" thing is that the Russian side complies with the pact
.
"We applaud the hard work of the UN secretary general. We applaud the diligent work of our Turkish allies. And this is something that not only the United States has asked for... The fact is that,
to date, Russia has turned the food in weapons during this conflict
," Price told a news conference.
The United States has singled out Russia for allegedly destroying agricultural facilities and preventing millions of tons of Ukrainian grain from reaching "those who need it," which is why it has been
skeptical that Russia will now honor its agreements with Ukraine and Turkey
.
Russia expects the European Union to facilitate grain exports
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman
Maria Zajarova
said Thursday that
Moscow hopes that the European Union's measures on food security will create the conditions for the unhindered export
of cereals and fertilizers.
"A document published by the Council of the European Union announces plans to extend previous sanctions exemptions in an attempt to avoid a possible negative impact on global food and energy security. Unfortunately,
we know that there is a great distance between the intentions declared the European Union and the measures it takes
", stressed Zajarova.
In his opinion, "the short-sighted economic and energy policies of the West are the main cause of the rise in the prices of agricultural products and hydrocarbons, along with the coronavirus pandemic."
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