MOSCOW, May 16. /TASS/. Kiev expects that consultations on extending the grain deal will be held in an online format in the next few days, Ukrainian Ambassador to Turkey Vasily Bondar said on Tuesday.

United Nations Secretary-General’s Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Monday that "formal discussions at the technical level" of an extension of the grain deal were expected to continue before May 18.

A source close to the talks told TASS earlier on Tuesday that the grain deal issue is being addressed at the political level and an agreement is possible.

"We expect talks in the online format within days," Bondar said, adding that there is a chance that the deal will be extended.

Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Development of Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Alexander Kubrakov said after talks between Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, and the United Nations in Istanbul on May 11 that consultations on unblocking the grain deal would continue online.

Meanwhile, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said after the talks that Russia was against indefinitely extending or expanding the grain deal, which a number of Western countries were calling for.

On July 22, 2022, a package of documents on the supply of food and fertilizers to the international market was signed in Istanbul. The agreements were originally concluded for a period of 120 days. They were extended for the same period last November. On March 18, 2023, Russia announced the extension of the deal for 60 days, warning that this period of time would be enough to see if the memorandum signed with the UN was being implemented.

Moscow has repeatedly stated that any further decision to extend the deal would depend on the fulfillment of the Russian part of the agreement. The lack of progress on this issue endangers the future of this initiative as such.