Ukraine, US, Russia Agree on Ceasefire in Black Sea and Energy Sector
At talks in Saudi Arabia, the United States agreed with Ukraine and Russia on a truce in the Black Sea and a ban on strikes on energy infrastructure in both countries, the White House reports following the meeting.
The White House issued two separate statements following expert-level talks with representatives of Ukraine and Russia on 23-25 March.
Both statements contain the same wording that the United States has agreed with Ukraine and Russia separately to ‘ensure safe navigation, eliminate the use of force, and prevent the use of commercial vessels for military purposes in the Black Sea.’
Washington also agreed with Kyiv and Moscow to ‘develop measures’ to implement the agreement to ‘ban strikes against energy facilities of Russia and Ukraine.’
In addition, the US will ‘continue facilitating negotiations between both sides to achieve a peaceful resolution, in line with the agreements made in Riyadh.’
The White House's ‘Ukrainian’ statement separately reaffirmed the US commitment to ‘helping achieve the exchange of prisoners of war, the release of civilian detainees, and the return of forcibly transferred Ukrainian children’.
The 'Russian' statement contains the promise that the US 'will help restore Russia’s access to the world market for agricultural and fertilizer exports, lower maritime insurance costs, and enhance access to ports and payment systems for such transactions'.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov confirmed these agreements in a post on Facebook. At the same time, he explained the conditions under which Ukraine would consider the ceasefire at sea to have been violated by Russia.
‘Russia's movement of its warships beyond the eastern part of the Black Sea will be considered a violation of the spirit of this agreement and will be seen as a violation of its obligations to ensure freedom of navigation in the Black Sea and a threat to Ukraine's national security. In this case, Ukraine will have every right to exercise its right to self-defence,’ said the Ukrainian Defence Minister.
He added that for the effective implementation of the agreements, it is important to hold additional technical consultations as soon as possible to agree on all the details and technical aspects of the implementation, monitoring and control of the agreements.
As The Gaze reported, during a telephone conversation on 18 March, US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed that peace talks on the Russia-Ukraine war should begin immediately and that the parties should first cease fire on energy infrastructure.