Türkiye at heart of Ukraine grain corridor deal: UN official

Türkiye will be the heart of the new Black Sea grain corridor deal, a senior UN official said Friday.

The importance of Türkiye's role in the deal to help feed the world is "absolutely central," the official, who declined to be identified, told a group of reporters in the Turkish capital Ankara.

The official said a joint coordination center will be established in Türkiye's commercial capital Istanbul to monitor the ships going across the Black Sea and through the Turkish Straits to make their grain exports to the world.

"It's a commercial operation in terms of trade, bringing grain and other fruits," the official said.

There should be no attacks on any of the vessels going out of territorial waters into the Black Sea, he stressed, citing the grain deal signed by Türkiye, the UN, Ukraine, and Russia.

"There will be a safe passage that will be monitored by the joint coordination center in Istanbul, and we are already starting to identify somebody who will be our representative at that center," the official added.

The next element after establishing the center will be the inspection of ships entering the ports, the official said, adding: "This will be done again under the supervision of the joint coordination center, where the three member states and the UN are present, and the inspection teams will be set up and ships will be inspected to make sure there are no weapons going into Ukraine."

With the mediation of Türkiye and the UN, Ukraine and Russia on Friday signed an agreement in Istanbul on the resumption of Ukraine's grain shipments from Black Sea ports.

Under the deal, reached on a UN-led plan during talks in Istanbul, a coordination center will be established to carry out joint inspections at the entrances and exits of harbors, and to ensure the safety of the routes.

Internationally praised for its mediator role, Türkiye has coordinated with Moscow and Kyiv to open a corridor from the Ukrainian port city of Odesa to resume global grain shipments long stuck due to the Russia-Ukraine war, now in its fifth month.