G7 calls on Russia to extend grain deal: US official

This file photograph taken on June 14, 2022, shows wheat grains in a grain storage facility on a farm near Izmail, in the Odessa region. (Photo: AFP)

The G7 has urged Russia to prolong a deal allowing safe passage of grain shipments from Ukraine at a meeting in western Germany, a senior US State Department official said on Friday.

"Everyone agreed on the need to extend the Black Sea grain initiative," the official said.