Ministers of both countries signed an agreement brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in Istanbul.
Russia has so far blocked sea access to these ports, meaning millions of tons of Ukrainian grain have not been exported to the many countries that depend on it.
“Today there is a beacon on the Black Sea. A beacon of hope – a beacon of opportunity – a beacon of relief – in a world that needs it more than ever,” Guterres said on Friday.
“The advancement of the well-being of humanity has been the driving force behind these talks,” he said. “The question wasn’t what’s good for one side or the other. The focus was on what matters most to the people of our world. And let there be no doubt – this is an agreement for the world.”
Guterres said the agreement will bring relief to developing countries and help stabilize global food prices “which were already at record levels before the war – a real nightmare for developing countries”.
The World Food Program (WFP) estimates 47 million people have fallen into a period of acute hunger as a result of the Ukraine war, and Western officials have accused Russia of using food as a weapon during its invasion.
The deal will also allow unimpeded access of Russian fertilizers to global markets. Russia is a major producer of fertilizers, vital to maximizing food production, and product costs have skyrocketed since the invasion.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said “millions of people will be relieved of this hunger threat” as a result of the deal.
“In the coming days we will see the start of shipping traffic and many countries will get a breath of fresh air,” Erdogan said.
How will this deal work?
As part of the deal signed on Friday, grain vessels led by Ukrainian pilots would navigate through a safe corridor in the Black Sea and then pass through the Bosphorus – a key shipping corridor in northwestern Turkey – to reach global markets.
Ships would be inspected by Russian, Ukrainian and Turkish officials before arriving in Ukraine to ensure no arms were being smuggled into Ukraine.
The vessels will be overseen by a Joint Coordination Center (JCC) to be set up in Istanbul starting immediately, which will include representatives from Ukraine, Russia and Turkey.
Both parties have agreed that none of the ships sailing from these ports to the Black Sea from territorial waters should be attacked from any side.
Before signing the agreement, the Ukrainian government warned Russia against provocations. “No transport escort by Russian ships and no presence of Russian representatives in our ports,” Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the Ukrainian President’s chief of staff, tweeted on Friday.
“In case of provocations, an immediate military response,” he added.
Podolyak added that Ukraine is not signing an agreement with Russia, but with Turkey and the UN. He also said that inspections of ships in Ukrainian waters would be carried out, if necessary, by joint groups.
The Black Sea will not be demined; A lengthy and complex process that mining experts at the UN, as well as Turkey and Ukraine agreed, was a false start. Naval mines in the Black Sea have severely hampered efforts to resume grain exports, with Ukraine and Russia blaming each other for mining the water.
Why are grain exports so important?
Both Ukraine and Russia are major food suppliers to the world. In normal times, Ukraine – known as one of the world’s breadbaskets – would export around three quarters of the grain produced. According to the European Commission, around 90% of these exports were shipped by sea from Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.
The war and its impact on grain exports are therefore having a major impact, especially in the Global South, which relies heavily on them. Between disrupting Ukraine’s agricultural production and blocking exports of remaining products, Russia’s war in Ukraine could plunge 49 million people into starvation or starvation-like conditions, the United Nations warned last month.
This year’s harvest is underway in Ukraine, making the negotiations even more urgent. Fields have been attacked in recent days, prompting farmers to save their crops.
Storage problems have also hampered farmers; Last month, a granary was destroyed in the town of Mykolaiv, which Ukraine says was hit by Russia with air-launched cruise missiles.
The UN hopes that under the deal, a monthly export of 5 million tons of grain would leave ports each month, a figure comparable to pre-war levels.
How did the war affect Ukraine’s crops?
While the ability to export grain to the Black Sea is a major breakthrough, the amount Ukraine can ship has been severely impacted by the war.
President of the Grain Union of Ukraine Mykola Horbachov said Friday that unblocking Ukrainian ports is the only way to prevent a global food crisis and save Ukrainian agricultural producers. He said the Russians had stolen about 500,000 tons of grain in the occupied territories, and about 1 million tons of grain remained in the elevators under the occupiers’ control.
Earlier this month, Ukraine’s grain traders’ union said it expected a grain and oilseed harvest of 69.4 million tonnes, slightly higher than previous forecasts but well below the 106 million tonnes harvested last year.
Agriculture Minister Taras Vysotskiy said the grain harvest could be at least 50 million tons, compared to 86 million tons in 2021. At least half of that production is for export, according to the trade union.
Wheat production and exports may be most at risk in an already tight global market. French consultancy Agritel said this month it expects Ukraine to harvest 21.8 million tons of wheat this summer, compared to 32.2 million tons last year.
Infrastructure Minister of Ukraine Oleksandr Kubrakov described the contract, which he signed at the ceremony in Istanbul, as “a great support for the Ukrainian economy”.
Will Russia stick to the agreement?
Western officials have accused Russia of deliberately stalling the global supply chain during the country’s war in Ukraine. European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said food was part of the Kremlin’s “arsenal of terror” and the US accused him of “weaponizing” food.
The US and other Western nations welcomed Friday’s agreement. But US State Department spokesman Ned Price warned Thursday when an agreement in principle was reached that Washington would focus on “holding Russia accountable for the implementation of this agreement.”
British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on Friday: “Britain and our allies have been pushing hard to get to this point. Now this agreement must be implemented and we will ensure that Russia’s actions match its words.”