Ladies and gentlemen of the media, thank you very much for your presence.

Today in Istanbul, we have seen a critical step forward to ensuring the safe and secure export of Ukrainian food products through the Black Sea.

In a world darkened by global crises, today, at last, we have a ray of hope.

A ray of hope to ease human suffering and alleviate hunger around the world.
 
A ray of hope to support developing countries and the most vulnerable people.
 
A ray of hope to bring a measure of much-needed stability to the global food system.
 
Since the war started, I have been underlining the importance of having Ukraine’s food products and Russian food and fertilizer fully available in world markets. 
 
I travelled to Moscow and Kyiv to propose solutions for both problems.
 
Every day since, we have been working around the clock with intense behind-the-scenes talks with countless moving parts.

More technical work will now be needed to materialize today’s progress. 

But the momentum is clear. 

In the end, the aim of all parties is not just an agreement between the Russian Federation and Ukraine, but an agreement for the world.

I thank the government of Türkiye for their outstanding efforts to convene these talks – and their critical role going forward. 

I thank Russian and Ukrainian officials for their constructive engagement.

I salute the commitment of all parties working to secure an agreement for our common humanity.

The United Nations pledges to do our full part to support the follow-up – and I thank our UN teams, led by Rebeca Grynspan and Martin Griffiths, who were responsible for the preparation of the UN Plan.
 
Today is an important and substantive step.   A step on the way to a comprehensive agreement.
 
We must also do more for struggling people and developing countries getting pummeled by a food, energy and financial crises not of their making.
 
We must do more to help all those living on the margins around the world — countries on the brink of bankruptcy, families on the edge of famine. 

Finally, let us never forget that these talks are happening in the midst of a bloody conflict. 

People are still dying.  Fighting is still raging. 

But the hopeful news from Istanbul shows the importance of dialogue.

Let us take inspiration from that ray of hope to help light a way to a desperately needed negotiated solution for peace in line with the UN Charter and international law.

Thank you.

Q: Mr. Secretary-General, could you just give us some more details please on the progress itself and what the sticking points are and if there will be some sort of a ceasefire for the ships to move in the final deal? 
 
SG: There was very substantive progress and I would say, a broad agreement, if you look at the present statement made by the Turkish Ministry of Defense that was already public – there was substantive agreement on many aspects, mainly the questions related to the mechanisms of control, related to the system of coordination, and relating to the questions of demining, in relation to many of the concrete, I would say, substantive aspects. 
 
But of course, this was a first meeting.  The progress was extremely encouraging.  We hope that now the delegations are coming back to their capitals, and we hope that the next steps will allow us to come to a formal agreement. 
 
Q: Secretary-General, how soon could there be a signing of this deal? Could it be as early as next week? And I know it's not a done deal yet, but could you see, from this, further diplomacy potentially to end the war? 
 
SG: I never like to make predictions because the predictions usually are never respected. We are hoping that we'll be able to reconvene very soon, I'm sure next week, and hopefully we'll be able to have a final agreement. But as I said, we still need a lot of goodwill and commitment by all parties. They have shown it. I'm encouraged. I'm optimistic, but it's not yet fully done. 
 
The second question - I think we cannot overestimate the importance of this agreement. 
 
This agreement is an extremely relevant step in relation to addressing the food crisis, together with the efforts we have been making in relation to the access of Russian food and fertilizers to the global markets. But I do not see immediately the perspective of a peace agreement. I think in any case, this demonstrated that the parties are able to have a constructive dialogue. And this is of course, very good news. But for peace, we still have a long way to go. 
 
Q: What role will the UN play in this agreement?  
 
SG: Sorry?   
 
Q: What role will the UN actually play in the agreement?   
 
SG: We will be together with the Russian Federation, Ukraine and Türkiye in making sure that the next steps of coordination, of control, of the implementation, are done together effectively. And the UN is fully engaged in that common effort.  
 
Q: Will you go to Istanbul for the final signing ceremony? And what level of credit does the United Nations deserve? The UN has come in for a lot of criticism. We often hear a lot about the UN's good offices role, your good offices role.  In terms of moving parties towards a peace agreement, you say that that's difficult. Does the UN’s effort therefore deserve some credit in this in these negotiations?   
 
SG: First of all, we don't know yet how the formal agreement will be established. Obviously, I will be ready to interrupt my holidays, to go to Istanbul if that is the case. And everything is organized for that purpose if necessary, and if it happens. There are other ways in which agreements can be formalized.  
 
And your second question, sorry?
 
Q: Do you deserve any credit? Does the UN deserve some credit here?   
 
SG: I never claim credit for the UN or for myself.  
 
I think that we have been working. I think that our work was vital. But I also do not minimize the credit of all the other key elements of this agreement - credit of the two parties and the credit of the Turkish Government. So, I think that we will be very happy to share that credit with everybody.  
 
Thank you very much.