By Janet Ekstract
ISTANBUL- On Friday, after the signing of the grain export deal, UN officials said Istanbul will be the site of a joint coordination center to facilitate the movement of Ukrainian grain and other food exports to global markets only from Ukraine. In a formal statement, the UN said that the center in Istanbul will be responsible for the safe passage of commercial food items and fertilizer by merchant ships through three major Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea that include Odesa, Chornomorsk and Yuzhny. The center’s role will be solely to monitor the shipments laid out in the agreement. The UN made it clear that the center will not be responsible for facilitating food exports from any other countries besides Ukraine and that it doesn’t have the authority to facilitate exports of containers of non-food items not covered by the agreement.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sounded the alarm for a number of months regarding the danger of a global food crisis since Russia had blockaded Ukrainian ports on the Black Sea withholding some 22 million tons of wheat that will now be able to be exported to those nations who so badly need it. Without the ability to export the grain and food items, the UN commented that the world was staring down the threat of global famine, destabilization and mass migration as the war on Ukraine continues. Initially, Türkiye coordinated the effort for the agreement with the negotiations led by the UN. Guterres lauded Turkish government efforts in facilitating the agreement and praised both the Russian and Ukrainian envoys for their roles in agreeing to the grain export deal.
