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The Russian Federation has announced that it will continue its participation in the Black Sea grain deal for a further two months. United Nations (UN) secretary-general Antonio Guterres confirmed the development, describing it as “good news for the world” in a statement. The UN-brokered deal allows the exportation of Ukraine’s grains through the Black Sea. Guterres noted that “outstanding issues remain,” but representatives of Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations will continue discussing them. He added: “I hope we will reach a comprehensive agreement to improve, expand and extend the initiative – as I proposed in a recent letter to the presidents of the three countries…The importance of the Black Sea Initiative – and the parallel Memorandum of Understanding between the UN and the Russian Federation – is clear. These agreements matter for global food security. Ukrainian and Russian products feed the world.” The European Union urged Russia to reverse its decision to withdraw from the deal at the end of October last year. Russia agreed to rejoin the initiative a couple of days later. Under the Black Sea Initiative, more than 30 million tons of food have been exported, including 30,000 tons of wheat, to feed citizens in Sudan. Deputy prime minister of Ukraine, Oleksandr Kubrakov, said in a Facebook post: “We welcome the continuation of the Initiative's work, but we emphasise that it has to work effectively. To do this, it is necessary to eliminate the problems that Russia has been creating for several months in a row by sabotaging inspections and registration of a new fleet.”