Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar on Wednesday opened a center in Istanbul to oversee the export of Ukrainian grain following a landmark UN deal last week, with the first shipment expected to depart from Black Sea ports. within days.
Russia and Ukraine signed the agreement, brokered by Ankara and the United Nations, on Friday to reopen grain and fertilizer exports that have been blocked by the war to alleviate an international food crisis.
The Joint Coordination Center (JCC) in Istanbul will oversee departures from three Ukrainian ports in which ships must bypass mines and will carry out inspections of ships arriving in search of weapons.
All ships pass through Turkish waters and all parties will appoint representatives to the JCC to monitor the implementation of the plan. A total of 20 staff from Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the UN will work side by side at the center.
Speaking at the National Defense University in the Levent district of central Istanbul, where the JCC is located, Akar said more than 25 million tonnes of grain are waiting to be exported.
“Currently, preparation and planning continues for the first grain-laden ships that will leave Ukrainian ports,” Akar told reporters at the monitoring center.
The deal was almost immediately put in jeopardy after Russia fired cruise missiles at the port of Odesa, Ukraine’s largest, on Saturday morning (July 23), just 12 hours after the signing ceremony in Istanbul.
Both Moscow and Kyiv said they would move forward with the agreement, the first major diplomatic breakthrough in the conflict, now in its sixth month.
Source: CNN Brasil
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