ANKARA, May 11. /TASS/. Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN will carry on negotiating the technical details of the grain deal in the near future, the Turkish Defense Ministry has said following two-day talks in Istanbul.

"As part of the bilateral and multilateral meetings that were held in Istanbul with the participation of Ukraine, the Russian Federation and the United Nations, the sides agreed to continue to work on the technical side of things in a four-way format to be held in Turkey to ensure the efficient continued operation of the grain initiative in the forthcoming period," the ministry said in a statement.

A source in Istanbul told TASS that the grain deal is likely to be extended for another two months.

Agreements to export food and fertilizers were signed on July 22, 2022 in Istanbul. They were originally meant to last 120 days and were extended for another 120 days in November. Russia announced on March 18 that the deal was extended for another 60 days, saying this would be enough time to assess the efficacy of the memorandum signed with the UN. Moscow has said repeatedly that any further extension of the deal hinges on whether the Russian part of the deal is executed. The lack of progress in this issue jeopardizes the future of the initiative.