Ukraine and Russia ended up Friday by signing, with Turkey and the UN, the agreement on the export of Ukrainian cereals to the Black Sea, during an unprecedented ceremony between countries at war.kyiv and Moscow initialed two identical but separate texts, at the request of Ukraine, which refused to co-sign a document with Russia.The four delegations met at Dolmabahçe Palace, on the banks of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, in the presence of United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkish and Russian Ministers of Defense and the Ukrainian Minister for Infrastructure.The brief ceremony took place under the flags of the protagonists, those of Russia and Ukraine carefully separated by the blue banners of the UN and the red of Turkey, which has offered itself as a mediator since the beginning of the Russian invasion on February 24.This two-page agreement, fiercely negotiated since April under the leadership of Mr. Guterres, will relieve countries dependent on the Russian and Ukrainian markets - 30% of world wheat trade between them.The head of the UN thanked Russia and Ukraine for having "overcome their differences to make way for an initiative at the service of all".Now the agreement "must be fully implemented", he pleaded.Mr Erdogan admitted that this agreement had "not been easy" to obtain, while affirming that, almost five months after the start of the conflict, he "reinforced the hope of ending this war". .In the process, Turkey said it was "ready" to help with mine clearance in the Black Sea to facilitate the implementation of the agreement.Some 25 million tons of cereals are piled up in Ukrainian silos, while 47 million additional people have been exposed to "acute hunger" since the start of the war, according to the World Food Program (WFP).A few hours before the ceremony, Ukraine had specified that it would not sign "any document with Russia", but only with Turkey and the UN.The Russian and Ukrainian ministers thus initialed in turn an identical agreement with these two parties.Mr. Guterres, however, noted the “unprecedented” nature of this agreement concluded between two belligerents.According to the agreement, published online by the deputy chief of staff of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a "maritime humanitarian corridor" will allow the movement of cargo ships in the Black Sea from and to the Ukrainian ports of Odessa, Pivdenny and from Chornomorsk.“The parties will not carry out any attacks against merchant ships,” the text reads.The negotiators gave up on clearing the Black Sea of ​​mines - mainly laid by the Ukrainians to protect their coasts: "Clearing mines would have taken too long", justified a United Nations official who requested anonymity, who specified that " Ukrainian pilots" would pave the way for cargo ships in territorial waters.The agreement, valid "120 days", will be "automatically renewed", unless opposed by one of the parties.A joint coordination center (JCC) is to be established this weekend in Istanbul with representatives of all parties "in and out" of the Bosphorus Strait under the control of the JCC in order to respond to the concerns of Moscow, which wants to be guaranteed that the cargo ships will not deliver arms to Ukraine.- 'No trust in Russia' -A first round of negotiations between military experts from the three countries and the UN took place on July 13 in Istanbul, from which a certain optimism had emerged.Then uncertainty prevailed after demands made by Moscow at the end of the Iran-Russia-Turkey tripartite summit on Tuesday in Tehran.Russia has finally obtained guarantees that Western sanctions will not apply, either directly or indirectly, to its own exports of agricultural products and fertilizers.In addition, said a diplomat in New York, the United States has offered "guarantees" so that large tonnage ships will be provided to Russia to facilitate the export of its grain and fertilizers.Due to the sanctions, international logistics companies owning such buildings are reluctant to work for Moscow.The United States had welcomed the agreement on Thursday and warned that they held "Russia responsible for (its) implementation".But distrust remains in kyiv: "We have confidence in the UN" but "not [in] Russia", declared Friday evening the head of Ukrainian diplomacy Dmytro Kouleba.SITEMAP ARCHIVES INFO: 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009