Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement on Friday in Istanbul with the UN and Turkey to unblock grain exports in the face of the risk of famines in the world, while the bombardments continued in the east and south of the ‘Ukraine.
The two belligerents initialed two identical but separate texts, at the request of the Ukrainians who refused to sign any document with the Russians.
The signing of this major agreement – fiercely negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations and Ankara – took place at the Dolmabahçe Palace on the Bosphorus Strait, in the presence in particular of the Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, and the President Turkish, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The conditions are met for its application “in the coming days”, assured the Russian Minister of Defense, Sergei Shoigu, shortly after.
A “responsibility of the UN”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that the UN was responsible for respecting the agreement on the export of Ukrainian cereals reached in Istanbul.
“Everyone understands that Russia could engage in provocations, attempts to discredit Ukrainian and international efforts. But we trust the UN. Now it is their responsibility to ensure that the agreement is respected,” he said in his daily video address.
Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement on Friday in Istanbul with the UN and Turkey on the export of Ukrainian grain to the Black Sea, blocked due to the armed conflict between the two countries.
The two belligerents initialed two identical but separate texts, at the request of the Ukrainians who refused to sign any document with the Russians.
“The agreement fully corresponds to the interests of Ukraine”, declared the Ukrainian president, adding that the Ukrainian military controlled “100% all access to the ports”.
An “unprecedented” agreement
Antonio Guterres, for his part, thanked Russia and Ukraine, which “overcame their differences to make way for an initiative at the service of all. Now, this “unprecedented” agreement must be “fully implemented”, he added. »
Mr Erdogan, for his part, hoped that the signing of this document would “strengthen the hope of ending this war” which two of the most fertile regions of Europe have been engaged in for almost five months. largest grain producers in the world.
“The Istanbul agreement is a step in the right direction. We call for its rapid implementation”, reacted the head of diplomacy of the European Union Josep Borrell.
“To allow a lasting return to global security and economic stability, (Vladimir) Putin must end the war and withdraw from Ukraine,” tempered the head of diplomacy Liz Truss.
The United States had on Thursday welcomed this progress obtained in Istanbul, while denouncing the fact that Russia “uses foodstuffs as a weapon”.
“Safe Corridors”
The main measure resulting from this text is the establishment of “secure corridors” to allow the circulation in the Black Sea of merchant ships, which Moscow and kyiv undertake “not to attack”, explained a United Nations official. .
It will be valid for “120 days”, the time to take out the approximately 25 million tonnes accumulated in silos in Ukraine as a new harvest approaches.
The negotiators, however, 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 the UN, which specified that “Ukrainian pilots” would open the way. cargo ships in territorial waters.
Turkey, however, said it was “ready” on Friday to help clear mines in this maritime area, while Russia “undertook” not to “take advantage” of the fact that Ukrainian ports will be “cleared and opened”.
And inspections of ships departing from and heading to Ukraine will take place in Istanbul, in order to meet the concerns of Russia, which wants to be sure that the cargo ships will not bring arms to the Ukrainians.
Russian fertilizers
This agreement is “very important”, the Kremlin had underlined a few hours before its signing.
“This is a relatively small share of Ukrainian cereals, but it is nevertheless very important that these cereals reach international markets,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
He also considered that it was necessary “to allow the markets to receive additional volumes of fertilizers and cereals” from Russia, the export of which suffers from Western sanctions.
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko told AFP on Thursday evening that kyiv would only accept “solutions that guarantee the security of the southern regions of Ukraine, a strong position of the Ukrainian armed forces. in the Black Sea and the safe export of Ukrainian agricultural products”.
But in the fertile south of Ukraine, farmers remain skeptical. The Istanbul agreement “gives a little hope”, certainly considers a farmer in the region, Mykola Zaveroukha, who expects to be able to export some 13,000 tonnes of cereals. But, he immediately adds, “Russia is not reliable, it has demonstrated that year after year”.
Russian bombings
At the same time, the Russian forces continue their relentless bombardments in the Donetsk region (East), which has been at the heart of their military offensive in recent months.
The Ukrainian presidency recorded there on Friday “five people killed and 10 injured in the last 24 hours”.
” There is nothing left. The officials left. We have to fend for ourselves to stay alive,” said Lioudmila, a 64-year-old woman who was picking apricots in Chassiv Iar, a village in the region targeted by a bloody strike (45 dead according to local authorities) on July 10. .
On the pro-Russian side, the authorities of the two separatist territories in the Donbass mining basin announced that they had blocked Google, accusing it of “promoting terrorism and violence against all Russians”.
In the south, according to kyiv, Russian forces are bombarding villages along the front line in the Kherson region, where the Ukrainian army is trying to recover areas taken by Moscow in the wake of the launch of its invasion in late February.
The NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Friday accused the Russian army of perpetrating torture, illegal detention and abduction of civilians in the southern part of Ukraine under its control.