A deal to allow Ukrainian grain exports from Black Sea ports has been extended for 120 days.
The extension was announced on Thursday by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres as well as Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“I welcome the agreement by all parties to continue the Black Sea Grain Initiative to facilitate the safe navigation of export of grain, foodstuffs and fertilizers from Ukraine,” Guterres said on Twitter.
Some 500 ships have delivered more than 11m tonnes of grain and other agricultural products since July when the deal was first brokered by Turkey and the UN.
Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukraine’s infrastructure minister, hailed the extension as an “important step in the global fight against the food crisis”.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova later confirmed Moscow had agreed to the continuation of the deal “without changes in terms or scope”.
Russia pulled out of the deal in late October, citing safety concerns after an attack on its Black Sea fleet, only to rejoin days later.
The 120-day extension, beginning November 19, was less than the one-year sought by both the UN and Ukraine.
