ISTANBUL. July 14 (Interfax) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said he expects the Black Sea grain initiative to be extended, Anadolu Agency reported on Friday.
"We hope that the Black Sea grain deal will be extended," Erdogan said.
Turkey and Russia share common positions on extending the initiative, Erdogan said.
"We are on the same page with him [Russian President Vladimir Putin] on the issue of extending the Black Sea grain corridor," Daily Sabah quoted Erdogan as saying.
He did not specify how the deal can be renewed and when.
Erdogan also reiterated that Ankara expected Putin to visit in August.
Meanwhile, Russian presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told Interfax on Friday that Russia did not make any statements on extending the grain deal.
"We did not make any statements on this score," Peskov said.
A number of media outlets reported earlier citing Erdogan that Putin had agreed "to an extension of the grain deal".
The Black Sea Grain Initiative, or the grain deal, was signed in Istanbul on July 22, 2022. The UN, Russia, Turkey and Ukraine signed two documents to open a grain corridor from three Ukrainian ports (Chernomorsk, Odessa and Yuzhny) and to lift restrictions on Russian food and fertilizer exports.
The initiative was extended in November 2022 for 120 days until March, and then twice more by two months. It currently remains valid until July 17.