RUSSIA has agreed to extend a deal that has allowed Ukraine to ship grain through the Black Sea to parts of the world struggling with hunger, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced today.

The agreement is a massive boost to global food security after the war launched more than a year ago drove up prices.

President Erdogan said: “With the efforts of our country, the support of our Russian friends and the contribution of our Ukrainian friends, the Black Sea Grain Initiative has been extended by another two months.”

The breakthrough accord brokered by the United Nations and Turkey between Ukraine and Russia last summer came with a separate agreement to facilitate shipments of Russian food and fertiliser that Moscow insists hasn't been applied.

Russia had set a Thursday deadline for its concerns to be ironed out or had threatened to bow out. 

Extending the Black Sea Grain Initiative is a win for countries in Africa, the Middle East and parts of Asia that rely on Ukrainian wheat, barley, vegetable oil and other affordable food products, especially as drought takes toll. 

But countries including Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria and Syria plus parts of east Africa are facing drought and economic issues that are still likely to keep food prices high.