ANKARA, May 1. /TASS/. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he hoped that the grain deal would be extended after its May 18 deadline, Turkey’s TRT-Turk quoted the country’s president as saying.

"We have resorted to the favorable atmosphere that was formed based on relations with the leaders of Ukraine and Russia [Vladimir Zelensky and Vladimir Putin respectively], as well as in the exchange of prisoners, and in the organization of the grain corridor," Erdogan stated.

"We carry on with our work in this direction and hope that the deal will be extended," the Turkish president added.

On July 22, 2022, a package of agreements on food and fertilizer exports to the global market was inked in Istanbul for a period of 120 days, and then was extended for the same period in November.

On March 18, 2023, Russia announced that the deal would be extended for 60 more days, saying this would be enough time to assess the efficacy of the memorandum signed with the UN.

The Russian Foreign Ministry pointed out that any additional extensions of the deal would hinge on whether Rosselkhozbank is reconnected to SWIFT; the exports of agricultural equipment, spare parts and maintenance services resume; the insurance and reinsurance restrictions as well as the ban on calls to ports are lifted; the Tolyatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline is restarted; and foreign assets and accounts of Russian companies related to production and transportation of food and fertilizers are unblocked.

Last week, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres handed Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov a letter addressed to the Russian president, which contained his ideas about the grain deal’s implementation. Ukraine and Turkey have also received similar messages.