Representative of Ukraine at negotiations with the Russian Federation reports details of grain exports through the Black Sea

EUROPEAN PRAVDA — WEDNESDAY, 20 JULY 2022, 22:23

According to the plan for the export of Ukrainian grain agreed in Istanbul last week, shipment will take place through three Ukrainian ports and will be monitored by a group under the auspices of the UN.

As reported in European Pravda, Rustem Umerov, member of Ukraine’s parliament and member of the Ukrainian delegation to the negotiations with Russia, talked about this with Suspilne.

"Export will take place through three ports: "Odesa", "Pivdennyi" and "Chornomorsk", but in the future, we hope, we can expand their number. All recommendations of the naval and armed forces must be followed," he said.

The parliamentarian clarified that according to the agreed safe routes, all civilian vessels will be able to enter the ports of Ukraine: "We will sell grain to everyone. And all vessels that can freely follow these recommendations can enter our ports."

Umerov emphasised that compliance with security rules will be monitored by a monitoring group under the auspices of the UN in Istanbul, and Russia will have no influence on this process.

"There should be no Russian vessels in our waters. We do not trust them. Even if they sign an agreement with the UN. This is an aggressor country, and until they move back to their borders, they can't be trusted," Umerov explained.

Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed hope that the agreement on the export of grain from Ukraine will be finalised this week.

At the quadrilateral negotiations in Istanbul regarding the export of Ukrainian grain, Ukraine proposed to create a navigation algorithm in the Black Sea for safe navigation.

Hulusi Akar, the Minister of Defence of Turkey, said that the negotiators in Istanbul on Wednesday [13 July] agreed to create a coordination centre for the export of Ukrainian grain by sea, and that the corresponding agreement would be signed next week.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said that during the quadrilateral meeting in Istanbul, the parties achieved "critical" progress on the issue of grain export from Ukraine by sea.