Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations recently signed an agreement. This agreement paved the way for the export of millions of tons of Ukrainian grain and Russian fertilizer. Hopefully, resuming Ukraine’s Black Sea grain exports will alleviate the distress of tens of millions of people who are in danger of famine, especially in Africa and the Middle East.

After months of talks, great progress was made with the help of Turkey and the U.N.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attended the signing ceremony at Dolmabahçe Palace along with representatives from Russia and Ukraine.

"We are proud of being instrumental in an initiative that will play a major role in resolving the global food crisis that has occupied the whole world for a long time," Erdoğan said.

"We will contribute to preventing the danger of hunger that awaits billions of people in the world," he added.

Noting that the ship traffic will start in the upcoming days, he said: "We will inaugurate a new corridor from the Black Sea to many countries in the world."

Also, Erdoğan said that the agreement has been made on all processes from the departure of the ships to their safe passage as well as arrivals at the port of destination.

"The implementation and supervision of this highly important plan will be carried out by the joint coordination center to be established in Istanbul," he added.

Internationally praised for its mediator role, Turkey coordinated with Moscow and Kyiv to open a corridor from the Ukrainian port city of Odessa to resume global grain shipments, which were halted for around five months due to the Russia-Ukraine war.

Erdoğan also called on Russia and Ukraine to end the ongoing five-month-old war, saying: "I wish that this joint step we are taking in Istanbul with the Russian and Ukrainian sides will be a new milestone that will revive hopes for peace."

Ahead of the ceremony, Guterres thanked Turkey for its "facilitation and perseverance" in the signing of the grain deal. "This agreement did not come easy," Guterres said, calling the deal a "glimmer of hope in the Black Sea."

"Since the war started, I have been highlighting that there is not any solution to the global food crisis without ensuring full global access to Ukraine’s food products and Russia’s food and fertilizer," Guterres said.

"Today we took important steps to achieve this objective. But it has been a long road," he added.

"This initiative must be fully implemented because the world so desperately needs it," the U.N. chief stressed.

"It will bring relief for developing countries on the edge of bankruptcy and the most vulnerable people on the edge of famine," he added.

Balanced Mediation

Since the beginning of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, Erdoğan has been the only one to be able to act as a mediator between the two warring countries – reflecting the country's bid to secure more diplomatic influence in non-Western capitals.

Turkey has maintained a delicate diplomatic balance to help bring about a negotiated end to the war.

Although Ankara has criticized Moscow’s Feb. 24 invasion and actions on the battlefield, it did not take a more punitive stance against it and has opposed Western sanctions on Moscow.

On the other hand, Ankara supplied Kyiv with armed drones and cited the 1936 Montreux Convention, which governs the passage of warships through the Bosporus and Dardanelles straits linking the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. Turkey earlier denied access to Russian warships, trapping them in the Black Sea and preventing reinforcement of Russia's naval presence there.

Since the 2014 annexation of Crimea and the Russian military intervention in Ukraine, Ankara has adopted a principled, pro-Kyiv position and has not recognized Crimea's annexation or the violation of Ukraine's territorial integrity.

Besides, amid escalating tensions between Moscow and Western capitals, Erdoğan visited Kyiv three weeks before the Russian invasion and signed military cooperation and trade agreements with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Turkey depends on Russia for energy and agricultural products, mainly grains and sunflower oil.

Ankara kept navigating between the Russian and Ukrainian sides, balancing economic and political interests. On one hand, it has been selling the highly efficient Bayraktar drones to Ukraine and on the other hand, it purchased the S-400 anti-air defense system from Russia, which is constructing Turkey’s first nuclear power plant at a cost of $20 billion.

Ankara did not comply with the sanctions imposed against Russia and both Moscow and Ankara have been treading extremely carefully, given Turkey’s NATO membership and the many other controversial issues that divide them besides the equally strong-shared interests that bind them together.

Russia’s long-serving President Vladimir Putin and Erdoğan are fully aware of the centuries of rivalry and wars in their shared history. This sober knowledge is proving to be more of an asset than a burden for handling bilateral relations fraught with this thorny issue.

Earlier, when the leaders of Iran, Russia and Turkey met in Tehran to discuss the conflict in Syria, Putin thanked Erdoğan for his ongoing efforts to broker a deal to unblock shipments of grain from the Black Sea disrupted by the war, adding that the process for the Ukrainian grain exports was moving forward with Ankara's mediation.

"Not all the issues have been resolved yet, but it is good that there has been some progress," Putin said.

For his part, Erdoğan praised Russia's "very, very positive approach" during grain talks in Istanbul and expressed optimism that a deal will be made.

"The end result will have a positive impact on the whole world," Erdoğan told Putin in Iran's capital Tehran.

Erdoğan has been a big diplomatic player, great mediator and peacemaker in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and the security guarantee provided by Turkey – likely one within NATO – has been a crucial piece for the success and finalization of the recent "grain deal."