Moscow reveals grain deal expiration date

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin has said that Moscow assumes that July 18 will be the time for the completion of the grain deal.

The ministry does not rule out new contacts with the United Nations on the issue of grain exports, Kommersant reports.

"We don't exclude them [contacts with the UN] but we keep doing what we said: we are leading the matter so that July 18 is the time to finish those agreements which are not fulfilled," Vershinin said.

Vershinin added that Russia is not withdrawing from one of the main requirements for prolonging the agreement: resuming the operation of the Tolyatti-Odessa ammonia pipeline.

"But at the same time, we understand that after the Ukrainian side of the ammonia pipeline was undermined, there is no real possibility to quickly restart it. Physically, the Kyiv regime has destroyed such a possibility of a quick launch of the ammonia pipeline," the Russian diplomat said.