Russia and Ukraine agreed to a United Nations-sponsored deal to restart Ukrainian grain exports in the Black Sea on Friday.
The agreement will be put into practice in the next few weeks, CNBC reported.
It was negotiated with the help of Turkey and was signed in Istanbul.
At the signing ceremony, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were present, with Russian and Ukrainian officials seated at separate tables while authorizing the agreement.
Since the start of the conflict in Ukraine in late February, millions of tons of grain, mainly wheat, has been sitting in limbo in Ukrainian storehouses, unable to be delivered through Black Sea shipping lanes. The crisis has resulted in a global shortage of grains, causing food prices to increase.
Since its invasion, Russia has been blockading the Black Sea port silos that Ukraine, one of the biggest exporters of wheat in the world, uses to export grain internationally.
The agreement is considered essential to restore calm to global food supplies. It’s the first measure signed by Ukraine and Russia since Russia’s invasion on February 24.
A preliminary deal was reached in mid-July after weeks of back and forth negotiations overseen by Turkey and the UN with the global food crisis looming in the background.
The details of the deal have not been officially released but it is expected that it will enable Ukrainian military boats to guide ships through Black Sea lanes that may have been mined. Turkey will also inspect shipments to ensure they do not contain smuggled weapons.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)