Ukrainian president Vladimir Zelensky discussed over phone with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres the grain deal, which has been extended for 120 days.
"During my conversation with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, I thanked him for his leadership in continuing the Black Sea Grain Initiative," Zelensky wrote on his Telegram channel.
In addition, he expressed gratitude to Guterres for his support of the Ukrainian humanitarian food initiative called Grain From Ukraine. Zelensky presented this program, speaking by video link to the participants of the G20 summit. According to it, the countries which will support the initiative will directly buy food from Ukrainian producers and then hand them over to the countries on the verge of starvation. Kiev believes that the international partners will simultaneously support the Ukrainian economy and help poor countries in Africa.
Turkish President Erdogan said that the grain deal was extended for 120 days. The Russian Foreign Ministry explained that it was automatically extended due to the absence of objections from the parties involved in the deal. Guterres welcomed the decision and said the UN was "fully committed to removing the remaining obstacles to food and fertilizer exports from Russia".
