Ukraine pushes to extend wartime grain deal at talks with Russia, Turkey and U.N.

ISTANBUL, Turkey (AP) — Kyiv is seeking to extend the unprecedented wartime deal that allows grain to flow from Ukraine to countries in Africa, the Middle East and Asia where hunger is a growing threat, a top Ukrainian official said Thursday after the talks on prolonging the agreement concluded in Turkey. The talks between Turkish, Russian, Ukrainian and United Nations officials were held in Istanbul on Wednesday and Thursday and yielded no decision on extending the deal that expires on May 18. Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov said in a statement released after the talks that the grain deal “should be extended for a longer period of time and expanded.” Russia is against the expansion of the deal or its “indefinite expansion,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin said