Officials from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, and the United Nations agreed on key aspects of a plan to resume exports of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea, The Wall Street Journal reported citing senior Turkish and U.N. leaders.

At a meeting in Istanbul, officials from the four parties agreed to establish a coordination center in Istanbul where their representatives would oversee outbound shipments of grain, Turkey’s defense minister Hulusi Akar said.

Under the broad agreement reached Wednesday, grain could ship from three Ukrainian ports in convoys escorted by Ukrainian vessels, with a cease-fire to protect vessels within geographical limits and some minesweeping, a person familiar with the talks said.

The Turkish navy would inspect empty ships arriving at Ukrainian ports to address concerns from Russia that the vessels could be used to transport Western arms to Kyiv’s forces. The U.N. will establish a command and control center in Istanbul to monitor threat levels to the shipping.

Technical details remain to be ironed out, including how mines laid around Ukrainian ports will be cleared, the person familiar with the talks said. Ukraine had originally told the U.N. that a safe passage could be charted through their minefields, but so-called floating mines will also have to be cleared, the Western official said.

A person familiar with the talks said an agreement could be signed in the coming days after some technical details are ironed out, but cautioned, “It would be wrong to say an agreement is imminent.”

U.N. and Turkish officials have been spearheading the talks, which are aimed at delivering Ukrainian wheat and other essential food products to the international market.

Wednesday’s talks were expected to address some of the technical aspects of the possible grain corridor. Ukraine, meanwhile, is making some progress on export routes that don’t rely on its Black Sea port, though officials and farmers say the route being negotiated on Wednesday is crucial.

Officials must negotiate a set of challenges, including securing ships from remaining mines and insuring commercial ships navigating the Black Sea. Turkey also has proposed an operations center in Istanbul to oversee the grain corridor. Officials from Russia and Ukraine would need to negotiate the staffing and functioning of the proposed center.

Source - vesnikkavkaza.net

14 July 2022 / 12:27