Turkey reports that a grain export agreement was made between Ukraine and Russia. According to Turkey, a deal has been reached with Russia that will let Ukraine to begin grain exports over the Black Sea.

Turkey reports that a grain export agreement was made between Ukraine and Russia.

Ukraine, Russia, Turkey, and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will sign it on Friday in Istanbul.

Millions are at risk of going hungry due to the global shortage of Ukrainian grain since Russia's invasion on February 24.

The agreement to open Ukraine's ports is essential because the invasion caused food prices to skyrocket. In Odesa, there are 20 million tonnes of grain locked in silos.

A paper may be signed at the Friday meeting of UN-led negotiations to resume grain exports, according to the foreign ministry of Ukraine.

However, a Ukrainian MP who was close to the negotiations expressed scepticism about the agreement.

Oleksiy Honcharenko, a member of parliament from Odesa, said on BBC Radio 4's World Tonight, We don't have [an] agreement yet. We have zero faith in Russians. So let's hold off on making a decision till tomorrow and hope that there won't be any last-minute modifications or pushback from the Russians.

I'm crossing my fingers that an agreement will be reached tomorrow and that Russia will actually abide by it.

The US State Department praised the UN-mediated agreement but stated that it was concentrating on keeping Russia responsible for carrying it through.

We shouldn't have ever found ourselves in this predicament. The Russian Federation made the conscious decision to turn food into a weapon Ned Price, a department spokeswoman, stated.

Diplomats said the plan consists of:

In order to alleviate Russian concerns about weapons smuggling, Turkish ships, with the cooperation of the UN, are checking ships as they pass through mined port waters to guide grain ships in and out.

The agreement is also designed to make it easier for Russia to ship grain and fertiliser across the Black Sea.

In the midst of widespread concern over the food crisis, the UN and Turkey have been attempting to broker a grain deal for the past two months.

Russia denies blocking the ports of Ukraine; instead, it accuses Ukraine of planting mines at sea and Western sanctions for limiting Russia's exports.

Ukraine, on the other hand, claims that the Russian fleet hinders it from exporting other goods, including grain, and that the Russian occupation forces are taking grain from Ukrainian farms.

The signing will mark the first important agreement between Russia and Ukraine since the invasion started, if everything goes according to plan. Even while there have been some prisoner swaps, a cease-fire still seems far away.

According to Mr. Erdogan's spokesman Ibrahim Kalin, the grain export deal, crucially important for global food security, will be signed in Istanbul under the auspices of President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan and UN Secretary General Mr. Guterres along with Ukrainian and Russian delegations.

The deal's details, which are still being worked out by all sides, the devil will be in the details, according to Sergiy Kyslytsya, the Ukrainian ambassador to the UN.

It would guarantee a considerable number of ships may approach or depart the Ukrainian ports and we can export roughly 20 million tonnes of grain, which is ready to be exported, he told BBC World News, assuming the agreement was signed and put into effect.

Turkey will play a very crucial position in securing the security, he continued, as well as overseeing the procedure.

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