UNO: Following Russia's announcement that it would only extend the agreement for 60 days, the United Nations backed Turkiye and Ukraine on Thursday by calling for a 120-day rollover of a deal allowing the safe export of grain from a number of Ukrainian Black Sea ports.

The agreement is scheduled to end on Saturday. In order to combat a global food crisis that was partly caused by Russia's invasion of the neighbouring Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and its blockade of its Black Sea grain exports, it was negotiated with Russia and Ukraine by the United Nations and Turkiye in July, and it was renewed in November.

In response to a question about Turkiye's comments, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric stated that the agreement's text is clear and calls for a 120-day rollover.

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On Wednesday, Turkiye announced that it would keep working to have the agreement extended for 120 days as opposed to just 60. According to Ukraine, the agreement should be extended for another 120 days.

When asked to respond to Dujarric's comments, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters on Thursday that the agreement had been extended for 60 days.

It "may just be a display of (the UN's) incompetence," she continued, that the Russian and UN interpretations of the duration of the agreement differ. Later, Dujarric stated that "discussions are still going on." On Monday, senior UN and Russian officials met in Geneva.

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Russia has complained that Western sanctions are making it more difficult for it to export food and fertiliser, though it has not stated why it only wants a 60-day renewal.

A three-year agreement was also reached in July under which the United Nations agreed to assist in facilitating Russian food and fertiliser exports, which helped persuade Russia to permit Ukraine to resume its Black Sea grain exports last year.

Due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the West has imposed severe sanctions on the country. Moscow claims that despite the fact that its exports of food and fertiliser are not subject to sanctions, the logistics, insurance, and payment systems are obstacles to such shipments.

Although there has been significant progress, there are still some challenges, particularly with regard to payment systems. We won't stop working to get past those challenges, Dujarric said on Tuesday.

According to the United Nations, Ukraine has so far exported nearly 25 million tonnes of agricultural commodities, primarily corn and wheat. China, Italy, Spain, Turkey, and the Netherlands have been the top countries for shipments.

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On Thursday, when questioned about Russia's request for a 60-day extension, China a strategic ally of Moscow—called for the agreement to be implemented in a fair and thorough manner. Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for the foreign ministry, added that China wanted to improve food security worldwide and communication with all parties.