Russian official: Black Sea grain deal extended for 60 days - TASS

Russia on Monday suggested allowing the deal to be renewed, but for half the term of the previous renewal, while the United Nations pledged to do everything possible to ensure the agreement's integrity remained intact. "Indeed, the deal has been extended - it has been agreed that it has been extended for 60 days," the TASS news agency cited Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko as saying on Tuesday.

A Russian official said on Tuesday that a landmark deal allowing Ukraine to export grain through its Black Sea ports has been extended for 60 days, though Kyiv said it would stick to a 120-day extension.

Since Russia and Ukraine signed the U.N.-backed Black Sea Grain Initiative in Turkey on July 22, millions of tonnes of grain and other food products have been exported from Ukrainian ports. Russia on Monday suggested allowing the deal to be renewed, but for half the term of the previous renewal, while the United Nations pledged to do everything possible to ensure the agreement's integrity remained intact.

"Indeed, the deal has been extended - it has been agreed that it has been extended for 60 days," the TASS news agency cited Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko as saying on Tuesday. It was not immediately clear how the deal could be extended for half of the previous renewal.

RIA news agency also quoted Grushko as saying the deal had been extended. According to RIA, Grushko cited another deputy foreign minister, Sergei Vershinin, confirming the extension. Ukraine will stick to the terms of the previously agreed deal, a senior Ukrainian government official told Reuters.

"We will follow the agreement strictly," the official, who declined to be named, said. Russia has said that, although the West has not explicitly targeted the country's agricultural exports, sanctions on its payments, logistics and insurance industries have created a barrier to the export of its grains and fertilisers.