Washington [US], March 26: Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a maritime ceasefire to secure shipping in the Black Sea, according to two White House statements published on Tuesday.
Both sides agreed to ensure the safety of civilian shipping, halt violence and prevent the use of commercial ships for military purposes, the statements said.
Representatives from the United States held separate talks with Russian and Ukrainian negotiators in the Saudi capital Riyadh over the last three days.
Ukrainian said Russian naval vessels would only be allowed in the eastern half of the Black Sea. If Russian warships appeared in the western half, Ukraine would exercise its right to self-defence.
The Russian side had earlier stated that there would be no joint statement following the talks because of Ukraine's position. Moscow did not provide further details.
Russia previously withdrew from the Black Sea Initiative brokered by Turkiye and the UN in 2022 to facilitate Ukrainian grain exports following the outbreak of the war, because it felt that its own interests were not being safeguarded.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that a guarantee that Russia's grain and fertilizer shipments would not be attacked could only be given by a corresponding US order to the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky said the agreement was effective immediately, but Moscow said it would only take effect once certain sanctions were lifted, including those targeting its state-owned agricultural bank.
"The US side considers that our agreements come into force after their announcement by the US side," Zelensky told reporters at a news conference in Kiev, adding that he did not expect Moscow to honour the agreement.
He hailed the partial truce as "the right steps", claiming that Ukrainian and US officials had agreed a third party "from Europe or, for example, Turkiye" could oversee the sea ceasefire, while "someone from the Middle East" could monitor the moratorium on attacks on energy infrastructure.
The Kremlin said the truce would "enter into force after the lifting of sanctions on Rosselkhozbankand other financial institutions involved in providing international trade operations in food and fertilisers."
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said his country did not trust Ukraine. "We will need clear guarantees," he said. "And given the sad experience of agreements with just Kyiv, the guarantees can only be the result of an order from Washington to Zelenskyy and his team to do one thing and not the other."
The Russian delegation in Riyadh was led by Karasin, the head of the foreign affairs committee in the Russian Federation Council, and Sergey Beseda, a senior intelligence official and close confidant of President Vladimir Putin.
The US delegation included multiple teams, with both US Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg and US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz present, while Ukraine's chief negotiator, Andrii Yermak, also travelled to Saudi Arabia.
Source: Qatar Tribune
