VILNIUS, July 12. /TASS/. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan discussed support for the efforts of Kiev and Ankara aimed at extending the grain deal. Von der Leyen announced this on Twitter on Wednesday.

The discussion took place on the sidelines of the NATO summit.

"Good meeting with President Erdogan. I welcome Turkiye's agreement to move forward with Sweden's NATO accession. We also discussed continued support to Ukraine and Turkiye’s tireless efforts to prolong the Black Sea Grain Initiative, scope for strengthening the EU Turkiye relationship," she tweeted.

Von der Leyen did not specify whether compliance with Russia's demands on the grain deal was discussed.

Turkey on Tuesday agreed to begin ratification of Sweden's accession to NATO in exchange for an EU commitment to expand the customs union agreement and grant Ankara a visa-free regime, as part of "intensified negotiations" on Turkey's accession to the European Union.

As a diplomatic source in Ankara told TASS on Wednesday, the probability of prolonging the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which expires on July 17, is low, but remains.

On July 22, 2022, a package of documents on the supply of food and fertilizers to the international market was signed in Istanbul. Initially, the agreements were concluded for 120 days, but in November of last year they were extended for another 120-day period.

From May 18, the grain deal was extended for another two months, until July 17.

The Russian Foreign Ministry stressed that the part of the agreement covering obligations to Moscow is not being fulfilled.

In particular, Russia has insisted on restoring the access of its ships to foreign ports, normalizing the situation with the insurance of dry cargo ships, and reconnecting the Russian Agricultural Bank to the SWIFT interbank payment system.

On June 30, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that at the moment he sees no arguments in favor of extending the agreements.