LONDON, June 17 (Reuters) - Ukraine has not been able to reach an agreement with a group of bondholders over restructuring some $20 billion of international debt during formal talks, it said on Monday, raising the spectre that the war-torn country might slip into default.

An agreement with holders of international bonds that allowed Ukraine to suspend payments after Russia’s invasion of the country in 2022 ends in August.

Ukraine’s Finance Minister Serhiy Marchenko said talks would continue and he expected the government to reach an agreement by Aug. 1. The country’s dollar-denominated eurobonds fell by more than 2.0 cents with near-term maturities trading at deeply distressed levels between 26-30 cents on the dollar.

Formal talks with the ad-hoc bondholder committee had been underway for nearly two weeks, as Ukraine seeks to rework its debt in order to retain access to international markets while meeting International Monetary Fund (IMF) demands to restructure.

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