ANKARA, May 16. /TASS/. The issue of extending the grain deal is being solved at the political level at this stage, a source familiar with the negotiations told TASS on Tuesday, adding that an agreement is likely to be reached.

"In fact the negotiations on extension at the technical level are complete. The issue is currently being solved at the political level. There is a good chance that the agreements will be extended," he said.

The agreements on grain exports expire on May 18, whereas on May 28 the second round of the presidential vote will be held in Turkey, the source noted, adding that in this respect "it is necessary [for the incumbent president Tayyip Erdogan - TASS] to ensure the extension of the deal, including from the image viewpoint."

Agreements on the export of food and fertilizers from Ukraine to the international market were concluded on July 22, 2022, for 120 days and extended in November for the same period. One of the agreements regulates the order of grain supplies from the Kiev-controlled ports of Odessa, Chernomorsk and Yuzhny. Moreover, a memorandum was inked by Russia and the UN on lifting export restrictions for Russian agricultural products and fertilizers to global markets. Moscow notes that the second part of the agreement is not being implemented. On March 18, 2023, Russia announced that the deal was extended for 60 days, warning that this would be enough time to assess the efficacy of the memorandum signed with the UN. The Russian side has repeatedly stressed that the future decision on extension of the deal depends on implementation of the Russian part of the agreement, adding that the lack of progress on that issue threatens the future of the initiative.

Representatives of Russia, Turkey, Ukraine and the UN discussed the issues of extension of the grain deal and the implementation of the Russian part of the agreement on supplies of grain and fertilizers on May 10-11 in Istanbul. The agenda also contained the issues of secure functioning of the grain corridor. Russia was represented by Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin. No particular decisions on extension of the deal or consideration of Moscow’s requirements were announced following the negotiations.