ANKARA: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has called on Russia and Ukraine to end the 5-month-old war while hoping the Ukraine grain export deal will be a ‘milestone’ for peace between the two nations.

Russia and Ukraine signed a deal on Friday to reopen grains exports from Ukrainian Black Sea ports in an agreement that U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said would help ease a global food crisis.

Government ministers from Russia and Ukraine signed the deal separately, carefully avoiding sitting at the same table and avoiding shaking hands at the event in Istanbul.

Erdoğan said the deal, also signed by Türkiye will help prevent famine and ease global food inflation.

ERDOĞAN: GRAIN SHIPMENTS FROM UKRAINE COULD START SOON

Shipments of grain that have been bottled up in Ukraine‘s harbours for months due to Russia‘s invasion could be on the move very soon, Erdoğan stressed in his remarks after the signing of a deal that could let the supplies move to market. “With the start of ship traffic in the coming days, we’ll open a new corridor from the Black Sea to other countries around the world,” he said in a statement while calling it a “historic day.”