After months of blockade, Ukraine could today restart its agricultural exports by sea. The world is eagerly awaiting.
Kyiv/Moscow/Ankara. After the months-long closure of Ukrainian ports by the Russian Black Sea Fleet and the resulting disconnection of agricultural exports with global consequences, a change for the better could come today, Monday: Turkey expected to start grain exports from Ukraine via the Bosphorus for today at the weekend and on to distant ports. The probability that a ship loaded with grain will leave a Ukrainian port on Monday morning is very high, said a spokesman for the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, on Sunday. There are “only one or two details left to solve”.
Treaty of Istanbul
About a week ago, Russia and Ukraine, in association with Turkey and the U.N. after much effort signed a treaty in Istanbul to allow grain exports from certain Ukrainian ports, which should not be disturbed by the Russians. Allegedly, more than 20 million tons of grain, such as wheat and corn, are still waiting to be exported from last year’s harvest. After the Russian invasion in February, port operations were suspended for security reasons, especially since both the Ukrainians and the Russians were mining water zones.