Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, a move most of the world denounced as illegal. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has demanded that Russia withdraw from the peninsula as well as the areas it has occupied since last year. Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Oleksandr Kubrakov tweeted the deal had been renewed for 120 days, the period that Ukraine, Turkey and the UN wanted. They signed separate agreements with the UN and Turkey last year to allow food to leave Ukraine’s blockaded ports. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has announced an extension of the vital grain deal organised between Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the UK.

Source: New Zealand Herald March 19, 2023 00:45 UTC