Ukraine Insists On 120-Day Extension Of Grain Deal

Ukraine insists on a 120-day extension of an agreement allowing the safe export of grain from Black Sea ports, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said, The Telegraph reported.

Photo Insert: "Attempts by the aggressor to reduce the extension period are a manipulation to continue further blackmail and deepen a global food crisis. We have to prevent this," Shmyhal said.

"We insist that the grain agreement be open-ended and automatically extended for 120 days," Shmyhal told a government meeting. "Attempts by the aggressor to reduce the extension period are a manipulation to continue further blackmail and deepen a global food crisis. We have to prevent this."

The agreement is due to expire on Saturday. It was brokered between Russia and Ukraine by the United Nations and Turkey in July - and renewed in November - to combat a global food crisis that was fuelled in part by Russia's Feb. 24, 2022, invasion of Ukraine and a blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports.

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