Russia and Ukraine have signed a landmark deal allowing grain exports to resume from Black Sea ports in a move that could help ease the input cost crisis that has hit pig farmers since the war started in late-February.

The blockade of the Black Sea ports has resulted in an estimated 20 million tonnes of grain being currently stuck in Ukraine, which would otherwise have been exported. 

The deal, which was also signed by the UN and Turkey at a ceremony in Istanbul, has raised hopes that an international food crisis could be averted. 

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on Russia and Ukraine to fully implement the accord, which he said would benefit developing countries ‘on the edge of bankruptcy and the most vulnerable people on the edge of famine’.

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the deal will ease global food inflation. He said the deal’s implementation will be run by a joint co-ordination centre in Istanbul.