July 24: Russia and Ukraine have reached an understanding to open the route to export grains through the Black Sea at a time when there is increasing concern that the food crisis will increase worldwide due to the war.

The two sides signed an agreement in Turkey on Friday allowing the export of 1 million tons of grains from Ukraine.

According to the BBC, the agreement will allow millions of tonnes of grain, currently trapped in Ukraine by the war, to be exported.

As per the agreement, Russia will gradually open the Ukrainian ports towards the Black Sea.

The World Food Program has warned that a million people could die of starvation if Russia continues to block the ports to Ukraine.

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that he is optimistic that the issue of Ukraine's grain exports can be resolved if the minefields laid by Ukraine in the waters around its port are removed. Ukraine is one of the world's leading grain exporters.

With Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24, one million people are at risk of starvation due to the halt in export of grains.

According to Al Jazeera, Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu and Ukraine’s infrastructure minister, Oleksandr Kubrakov, signed the deal separately on Friday, carefully avoiding sitting at the same table and avoiding shaking hands in Istanbul.

As per the information, the contract is said to last for 120 days in addition to the possibility of extension of agreement with the consent of both parties. The halt in Ukrainian grain supplies led to a global food crisis and the price of bread and pasta made from wheat skyrocketed. Apart from that, the prices of cooking oil and fertilizers also increased. The United States has also requested Russia to take immediate steps to implement the agreement.

On Friday, the price of wheat in the world market fell by two percent, as the possibility of supplying more than 20 million tons of Ukrainian grain surged.

In his Friday night speech, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that his country has marketable grain worth about US$ 10 billion. He also mentioned that the United Nations is responsible for ensuring the agreement. Ukraine has been saying that the Russian navy is blocking the supply of grain and other imports.

Ukraine alleged that Russian forces even stole grain from its agricultural fields. Due to the drought, the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine, some countries in the world are facing an extreme food crisis.