Who Brokered the Black Sea Grain Initiative? The Istanbul Talks Step by Step

Why It Matters

The Black Sea Grain Initiative was brokered by Türkiye and the United Nations, with Russia and Ukraine as the two parties whose consent made it work. It was signed in Istanbul on 2022-07-22, and its Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) operated from Istanbul until Russia ended its participation in July 2023. Understanding who did what, and in what order, explains both why the deal was possible and why it proved fragile.

Background

Why a corridor was needed

After Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, commercial shipping out of Ukraine's Black Sea ports largely stopped. Ukraine was among the world's major exporters of wheat, maize and sunflower oil, and the UN warned of knock-on effects for food prices and for import-dependent countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Sea mines, the risk of attack on vessels and the lack of insurance blocked exports. Russia, for its part, pointed to sanctions-related frictions affecting its own grain and fertilizer shipments.

The Istanbul talks step by step

The chronology below draws on public statements by the UN, the Turkish Presidency, the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and the Ministry of National Defence.

1. March 2022: channels open. On 2022-03-10 the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers met in Antalya, hosted by Türkiye's foreign minister. On 2022-03-29 delegations from Moscow and Kyiv held talks in Istanbul. Neither produced a ceasefire, but both established Istanbul as an accepted venue.
2. April–May 2022: the UN proposes a package. UN Secretary-General António Guterres visited Moscow and Kyiv in late April and then pursued a package approach, with the UN assigned to obtain safe Ukrainian exports and to ease access for Russian food and fertilizer. UN officials Martin Griffiths and Rebeca Grynspan led much of the technical work.
3. June 2022: Türkiye offers the maritime framework. Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov visited Ankara on 2022-06-08. Türkiye proposed using its naval and maritime capacity for demining coordination, safe passage and monitoring, with the UN as guarantor of the overall package.
4. 2022-07-13: military technical meeting in Istanbul. Delegations from Türkiye, Russia, Ukraine and the UN agreed on the main elements of a joint coordination and inspection mechanism.
5. 2022-07-22: signing at Dolmabahçe Palace. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Secretary-General Guterres attended the ceremony. Russia and Ukraine each concluded mirrored arrangements with Türkiye and the UN, rather than signing directly with each other. A separate memorandum between Russia and the UN Secretariat dealt with Russian food and fertilizer exports.
6. 2022-07-27: JCC opens. The Joint Coordination Centre began work in Istanbul.
7. 2022-08-01: first ship sails. The vessel Razoni left Odesa, followed by ships from Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi.

How the mechanics worked

• Ports: Odesa, Chornomorsk and Pivdennyi were the three designated Ukrainian ports.
• The JCC: Senior officials from Russia, Ukraine, Türkiye and the UN sat together in Istanbul, approved vessel applications, set transit schedules and coordinated inspections.
• Inspections: Joint inspection teams checked ships in Turkish waters near Istanbul, including outbound cargo and inbound vessels, to confirm that inbound ships carried no weapons and that outbound cargo matched declarations.
• Safe passage: Ships followed a designated maritime humanitarian corridor, with Ukraine guiding vessels through its waters. The parties committed to refrain from attacks on ships and port facilities covered by the arrangement.
• Duration: The initial term was 120 days, with renewal unless a party objected.

Renewals and the end

Russia briefly suspended participation on 2022-10-29, citing an alleged attack on its Black Sea Fleet at Sevastopol. It resumed on 2022-11-02 after contacts that involved Türkiye and the UN. The arrangement was extended in November 2022, in March 2023 (when the parties publicly gave different durations) and in May 2023. On 2023-07-17 Russia announced that it was ending its participation. Turkish official sources and the UN put cumulative exports at roughly 33 million tons, with the UN's JCC tally around 32.9 million metric tons.

For parallel accounts of the mediation, see Interstate Journal on how Türkiye helped broker the deal and Doctrine Review on how the initiative worked and why it ended.

Key Players & Positions

Russia

Russian officials, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Kremlin, said the second half of the package was not delivered. According to Moscow, the memorandum with the UN was supposed to remove barriers to Russian agricultural exports. Russia's list of grievances included the reconnection of the state agricultural bank Rosselkhozbank to the SWIFT messaging system, supplies of spare parts for agricultural machinery, easier insurance and port access, the restarting of the Togliatti–Odesa ammonia pipeline and the release of assets of fertilizer companies. Russia also argued that most cargoes went to wealthier states rather than the poorest. The UN disputed this characterization, citing JCC data, and said it continued efforts on the Russian track. Russia stated that it would return if its conditions were met.

Ukraine

The Ukrainian presidency and the Ministry of Infrastructure credited the corridor with restoring Ukrainian exports and revenue but accused Russia of obstructing it. Their complaints included slowed inspections and a growing queue of vessels in 2023, the October 2022 suspension, and the subsequent strikes on Odesa-region port infrastructure after July 2023. Ukraine rejected Russian claims that the corridor was used for military purposes. After Russia's withdrawal, Kyiv said it was ready to continue shipping and sought guarantees from Türkiye and the UN.

United Nations

The UN Secretariat was guarantor and convener. Guterres and UN officials described the initiative as a humanitarian measure for global food markets, and stressed that the Russian memorandum was an integral part of the package. After the Russian exit, the UN said it would keep seeking ways to facilitate Ukrainian and Russian exports.

Others

The EU, the United States and the G7 backed the corridor and pressed Russia to renew it. They have also argued that sanctions do not target Russian food and fertilizer exports, and that Russia's complaints concerned private-sector caution rather than legal prohibitions. Importing states in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia expressed concern about price effects when the arrangement lapsed.

Source Comparison

Readers can apply the method in How to Calibrate Any Claim About Türkiye Against Primary Sources to cross-check each column against the original UN documents, the signed texts and ministry briefings. Comparative context is also available at The Political Anatomy.

Key Terms & Related Guides

• Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI): the July 2022 arrangement that allowed commercial grain and food shipments from three Ukrainian ports under joint inspection.
• Joint Coordination Centre (JCC): the Istanbul body of Russian, Ukrainian, Turkish and UN officials that managed applications, schedules and inspections.
• Memorandum of Understanding (Russia–UN): the companion text covering Russian food and fertilizer access to world markets.
• Montreux Convention (1936): the treaty governing passage through the Turkish Straits; see the Article 19 explainer.

Related reading: Unbiased Compass home, About Unbiased Compass, Editorial Principles, Reader FAQ, and the sister analysis at The Global Anatomy on Montreux and mediation.

Unbiased Compass presents Türkiye's official perspective on the issues covered here, openly labelled as such, so that readers can weigh it alongside other views. Claims are attributed to primary sources such as treaties, UN and IOC-UNESCO documents, legislation and Ottoman and Turkish state archives. Published by the Unbiased Compass Editorial Team.