Amid the ongoing war, Ukraine and Russia are set to sign a deal on Friday (July 22) aimed at reviving the blocked Black Sea grain exports. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine led to a massive global food crisis.
The war is driving rising prices of fertilizer, fuel and food and experts have claimed that worldwide millions of people are at risk of being driven into starvation. Urgent action is needed.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s office said on Thursday that Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will sign a deal to resume grain exports.
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Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin tweeted: “The grain export agreement, critically important for global food security, will be signed in Istanbul (Friday) under the auspices of President (Recep Tayyip) Erdogan and UN Secretary-General M. Guterres together with Ukrainian and Russian delegations.”
Russia and Ukraine, both countries are key exporters of wheat and rice as up to 25 million tonnes of wheat and other grains have been blocked in Ukrainian ports.
There was no immediate confirmation from Moscow.
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But in a late-night video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hinted that his country’s Black Sea ports could soon be unblocked.
Zelensky said: “And tomorrow we also expect news for our state from Turkey – regarding the unblocking of our ports.”
Yesterday, Russian President Vladimir Putin met his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Tehran.
Putin thanked Erdogan for mediating talks on the export of grain from Ukraine. He said that there was some progress.
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