ANKARA, May 5. /TASS/. Turkey, Russia, the United Nations and Ukraine held a technical meeting in Istanbul on Friday to discuss the upcoming grain deal talks, the Turkish Defense Ministry said in a statement.

"A preliminary coordination meeting involving the technical personnel of the UN, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey took place ahead of a meeting between deputy defense ministers, which will be held in Istanbul next week. Participants in the meeting agreed on the agenda for the meeting of deputy ministers along with technical issues," the statement reads.

The deputy defense ministers of Russia, Ukraine and Turkey were initially expected to meet in Istanbul on Friday to discuss the extension of the grain deal that expires on May 18. However, Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar announced on Thursday that the need had arisen to arrange a four-party meeting at the technical level.

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 Russian Agricultural Bank 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.