<a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/russia/" target="_blank">Russia</a> on Wednesday agreed to extend the deal allowing Ukrainian ships to leave the Black Sea carrying vital supplies of grain to the global market, Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. The extension will help to ease a global food crisis exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, which Russia launched more than a year ago. Mr Erdogan said that the deal would be extended for two months. Russia confirmed the deal, with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova saying it had been extended to help countries in need. But she added that Russia's overall assessment of the situation regarding the deal “has not changed”. The last ship covered by the deal was due to leave a port in <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/ukraine/" target="_blank">Ukraine </a>on Wednesday, a UN representative said before the development. Moscow<a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/tags/russia/" target="_blank"> </a>had previously said it could quit the agreement by Thursday over obstacles facing its grain and fertiliser exports. The <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/2022/07/22/russia-and-ukraine-sign-un-turkey-deal-unblocking-black-sea-grain-exports/" target="_blank">UN and Turkey brokered the Black Sea deal</a> in July for an initial 120 days. Russia agreed to extend the deal for a further 120 days in November. In March, it agreed to a 60-day extension until May 18, whereupon it threatened to leave the deal unless a list of demands regarding its own agricultural exports was met. Senior officials from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN met in Istanbul last week to discuss the agreement. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the deal extension was “good news for the world”, but cautioned that “outstanding issues remain”. He said representatives from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN would remain in talks. “Looking ahead, we hope that exports of food and fertilisers, including ammonia, from the Russian Federation and Ukraine will be able to reach global supply chains safely and predictably,” he told reporters in New York. While Russian exports of food and fertiliser are not subject to western sanctions imposed since the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russia said restrictions on payments, logistics and insurance have amounted to a barrier to shipments. The US has rejected Russia's complaints. The US ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said last week: “It is exporting grain and fertiliser at the same levels, if not higher, than before the full-scale invasion.” Officials from Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN make up a Joint Co-ordination Centre in Istanbul, which is responsible for enacting the Black Sea deal. No new vessels have been authorised by the JCC since May 4. Authorised ships are inspected by JCC officials near Turkey before travelling to a Ukrainian Black Sea port via a maritime humanitarian corridor to collect their cargo and return to Turkish waters for a final inspection. Under the deal, there is one ship still in a Ukrainian port that is scheduled to depart on Wednesday with its cargo, said a UN representative, while another vessel made its way back to Turkey on Tuesday and another five ships are waiting for an outbound inspection in Turkish waters. The UN, Turkey and Ukraine continued the Black Sea agreement in October when Russia temporarily suspended its participation. About 30 million metric tonnes of grain and foodstuffs have been exported from Ukraine under the Black Sea deal, including nearly 600,000 metric tonnes of grain in World Food Programme vessels for aid operations in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Yemen, the UN said. To help persuade Russia to allow Ukraine to resume its Black Sea grain exports last year, a separate three-year agreement was struck in July last year in which the UN agreed to help Russia with its food and fertiliser exports. Under the deal: In a letter to UN officials on March 16, Russia's UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzya said Moscow would consider extending the Ukraine Black Sea grain export deal beyond May 18 only if the following “systemic problems” were resolved:
