<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><b>Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said he hoped the Black Sea grain deal will be extended beyond July 17.</b></span><br></div><div><br></div><div>"We held an important meeting in Istanbul last year. Jointly with the UN, the Black Sea Grain Initiative was agreed upon. As part of it, 33 million tons of food has been sent to countries in need. We want the grain initiative to be extended," he said at a televised news conference in Istanbul following talks with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.</div><div><br></div><div>Erdogan said he hopes the Black Sea grain deal will be extended by at least three months, but said a better option would be to have it run for two more years, reports AFP&nbsp;</div><div><br></div><div>"I hope that the grain corridor agreement will be extended again, beyond July 17. We expect that it will be prolonged at least for three months, but we favor extending it by two years," he added.</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/fas</div>