ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A wartime agreement that allowed grain exports from Ukraine to resume and helped temper rising global food prices will be extended by 120 days, the United Nations and other parties to the deal said Thursday.

The initiative established a safe shipping corridor in the Black Sea and inspection procedures to address Russian and Ukrainian concerns that cargo vessels traveling off Ukraine's southern coast might carry weapons or launch attacks.

The deal that Ukraine and Russia signed in separate agreements with the U.N. and Turkey on July 22 was due to expire Saturday.

The deals are aimed to help bring down the prices of food and fertilizer to avoid a global food crisis.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the extension a “key decision in the global fight against the food crisis.”

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