WASHINGTON, June 23. /TASS/. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres spoke by phone on Thursday to discuss the extension of the Black Sea grain transportation deal, the Department of State said in a statement.

The two officials addressed "Russia’s statements to not renew the Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI) by the July 17 deadline," Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

"Secretary Blinken and Secretary-General Guterres agreed on the importance of the BSGI to global food security and on the adverse impact its suspension would have on food importers, especially in developing countries," the statement says.

Agreements on 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. The second part stipulates unfreezing of Russian export of food and fertilizers, connection of Rosselkhozbank back to SWIFT, resumption of supplies of agriculture equipment, components and service maintenance, resumption of the work of Tolyatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline and a number of other steps. This part of the package agreement has not yet been implemented as stated by Moscow. 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. On May 18, the grain deal was extended for another two months, until July 17.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said earlier this week that the extension of the grain deal was out of the question unless the Russian package of Istanbul agreements was enforced, adding that the deal was still being implemented only regarding the supply of Ukrainian grain.