Ukraine và Nga ký thỏa thuận mở lại các cảng xuất khẩu ngũ cốc khi chiến tranh bùng phát

Russia and Ukraine have signed a historic deal to reopen Ukrainian Black Sea ports to grain exports. This raises hopes that the international food crisis caused by Russia's invasion will be addressed.

This agreement was reached after two months of negotiations between the United Nations (UN) and Turkey. Turkey is a NATO member with good relations to both Russia and Ukraine, and has control over the Straits leading to the Black Sea.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke at the Istanbul signing ceremony and said that the agreement opens the door to significant food exports from three key Ukrainian ports, Odesa, Chernomorsk, and Yuzhny.

"Today, there's a beacon at the Black Sea. Guterres spoke of a beacon of hope and relief in a world that is more desperate than ever.

However, fighting continued in Ukraine's East. Underscoring the animosity and mistrust driving this worst conflict in Europe since World War Two was the fact that both Russian and Ukrainian representatives refused to sit at the same table, and they avoided shaking hands during the ceremony.

The blockade of Ukrainian ports by Russia’s Black Sea fleet has led to tens of million of tonnes of grain being trapped in silos and many ships being stranded. This has worsened global supply chains and, together with the sweeping Western sanctions, has fueled a soaring inflation in food prices and energy prices.

Moscow denies responsibility for the worsening crisis in food, instead blaming sanctions for slowing down its food and fertilizer exports as well as Ukraine for mining the Black Sea ports.

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According to a U.N. official, a separate pact was signed Friday to smooth Russian exports. The United Nations also welcomed clarifications from the U.S. government and European Union that their sanctions would not be applicable to Russian shipment.

Justin Trudeau, Canada's Prime Minister, stated that the West would closely monitor the deal to make sure Ukraine is not further invaded by Russia.

Trudeau stated that the G7 was working closely with Turkey and other partners to ensure that Ukraine can obtain that grain without putting at threat Ukraine's sovereignty or protection.

Sergei Shoigu, Russian Defense Minister, stated that Moscow will not profit from the demining of Ukraine’s ports.

"Russia has accepted the obligations clearly stated in this document. Shoigu stated that we will not profit from the fact that ports will be cleared, and will open them," Shoigu stated on Rossiya-24 state television channel.

Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine's infrastructure minister, said that Kyiv doesn't see any risk of Russian ships entering Ukrainian ports.

On Friday (22 July), senior UN officials briefed reporters that the deal would be operational within a few weeks. It would allow grain shipments to return to pre-war levels from the three reopened ports at 5 million tonnes per month.

One official described the "de facto ceasefire" as a guarantee of safe passage to and from the ports for all ships and facilities, even though the word "ceasefire” was not included in the agreement text.

They said that although Ukraine has already mined offshore areas in defense against Russia's invasion of five months ago, Ukrainian pilots will guide ships through safe channels within its territorial waters.

The ships will then transit Istanbul's Black Sea to Turkey's Bosphorus Strait, where they will be monitored by a Joint Coordination Center. From there, they will proceed to international markets, UN officials stated.

The ultimate goal is to prevent famine in the tens of thousands of poor countries by injecting more wheat, sun oil and fertilizer into world markets, including humanitarian needs, at partly lower prices.

The United States praised the agreement and stated that it would focus on Russia's implementation.

On Thursday (21 July), the Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskiy met with senior commanders and stated that Kyiv's troops, which are now more equipped with precision, long-range Western weaponry, had the potential to change the tides on the battlefield.

A senior U.S. defense officer stated that the United States believes Russia is suffering hundreds of casualties per day. According to the official, Washington believed that Ukraine had also destroyed more than 100 Russian targets in Ukraine of "high value", including command posts and air defense sites.

Since Russian forces took the last two Ukrainian-held towns in eastern Luhansk in June and July, there have not been any major breakthroughs in front lines.

Russian forces are currently focusing on the capture of Donetsk, the neighboring province. This is in support of separatist proxyies that have declared two mini-states to cover the larger industrialised Donbas region.

Kyiv hopes its steadily increasing supply of Western weapons, such as the U.S. High Mobility Artillery Rocket System HIMARS (USAHMARS), will enable it to retake lost territories.

Russia's defense ministry claimed that its forces destroyed four HIMARS systems in the period July 5-20. Kyiv dismissed the claims and called them "fakes" to erode Western support for Ukraine. Reuters was unable to verify these assertions.

Russia claims it is conducting a "special military operations" to demilitarize its neighbor and expel dangerous nationalists.

Kyiv and West claim that Russia is launching an imperialist campaign in order to conquer a pro-Western neighbor that was freed from Moscow's control after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

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