Ukraine and Russia sign deal to reopen grain export ports

FILE - A farmer reacts as he looks at his burning field caused by the fighting at the front line in the Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine, Monday, July 4, 2022. Military officials from Russia and Ukraine are set to hold a meeting in Istanbul to discuss a United Nations plan to export blocked Ukrainian grain to world markets through the Black Sea. Russia’s invasion and war disrupted production and halted shipments of Ukraine, one of the world’s largest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)

Russia and Ukraine have signed a deal to reopen Ukrainian Black Sea ports for grain exports, Turkey and the United Nations said, raising hopes that an international food crisis aggravated by the Russian invasion can be eased.

Russia and Ukraine, both among the world's biggest exporters of food, sent their defence and infrastructure ministers respectively to Istanbul to take part in a 1330 GMT signing ceremony, the two sides said.