UN chief, Turkish president discuss grain deal over phone

United Nations: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan have discussed the Black Sea grain export deal over the phone.

"They exchanged views on how to guarantee the improvement, expansion and extension of the Black Sea Initiative," said a readout issued by the UN chief's press office on Friday.

The two also talked about the improvement of the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding between Russia and the Secretariat of the UN on promoting Russian food products and fertilisers to the world markets, the readout said.

In July 2022, Russia and Ukraine separately signed a document in Istanbul with Turkey and the UN on grain and fertiliser exports from Ukraine and Russia to ensure supplies to global markets amid the Ukraine crisis, Xinhua news agency reported.

The initial 120-day agreement was extended by another 120 days in November 2022 and again on March 18.

Circumstances are not yet in favour of extending the Black Sea grain export deal, the Kremlin said on Tuesday after Guterres sent a letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin, outlining a proposed way forward aimed at the improvement, extension and expansion of the deal.

During their phone call, Guterres and Erdogan also discussed the situation in Syria and Sudan, according to the UN readout.