White House announces truce between Russia and Ukraine in the Black Sea
The sea routes are key for wheat from Ukraine and Russia to be distributed to the rest of the world. Prior to the war, they accounted for 28% of the global wheat supply.
A Ukrainian serviceman in Kherson, southern Ukraine.
Russia and Ukraine separately agreed to avoid military strikes against ships in the Black Sea, during negotiations that concluded Tuesday in Saudi Arabia, the White House reported.
According to the U.S. government, the two countries agreed to ensure the safety of navigation, eliminate the use of force and prevent the use of commercial vessels for military purposes in the Black Sea.
The U.S., which brokered the negotiations, pledged, with respect to Ukraine, to "support efforts to exchange prisoners, release civilians, and return forcibly displaced Ukrainian children."
The U.S. administration also expressed its "gratitude" to the Saudi crown prince Mohamed bin Salman.
Kiev recalled that movements of Russian warships "out of the eastern part" of the Black Sea would violate the agreement reached with the United States for Ukraine and Russia to end the "use of force" in that area.
Defense Minister Rustem Umerov reiterated on Facebook those same statements. He also called for "additional technical consultations" to resolve the "details" of the agreements announced by the White House, according to which Ukraine and Russia agreed in principle to a ceasefire in the Black Sea.
"For the effective implementation of the agreements, it is important to organize as soon as possible additional technical consultations to agree on all the details and technical aspects of the implementation, monitoring and control of the agreements," Rustem Umerov said in a statement summarizing the main points of the talks held with the Americans in Saudi Arabia over the past few days.
Three days of negotiations
The extension of the truce to the Black Sea comes after a round of talks between the United States with Russia and Ukraine separately that were held from this Sunday until today in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Since Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin announced a truce for the energy sector, the White House made it clear that its next goal was to extend that truce to the sea that touches the coasts of Ukraine and Russia. The Black Sea, from the shores of Russia to the Bosphorus Strait, is an important sea lane for Russia and for distributing grain to the world.
In relation to grain, it was also learned this Tuesday that the United States is lifting its sanctions against the Russian agricultural sector. The White House announced that it will facilitate Russian exports of fertilizers, hampered in logistics and payments by a series of sanctions imposed on Russia for invading Ukraine.
"The United States will help restore Russia's access to the world market for agricultural and fertilizer exports, reduce maritime insurance costs, and improve access to ports and payment systems" for those transactions.
Black Sea, the gateway to Russia's agricultural sector
With the outbreak of open warfare following the Russian invasion, the world, and Africa more significantly, suffered a severe shortage of this commodity, along with many others that served the world's agricultural sector.
The shortage led Ukraine and Russia to negotiate with the intermediation of Turkey to allow merchant ships of wheat and fertilizers to pass in July 2022.
Moscow withdrew from the agreement in summer 2023, after accusing Western powers of failing to honor their commitments to ease sanctions on Russian exports of agricultural products and fertilizers.
Ahead of the White House announcement on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov demanded "clear guarantees" that "can only be the result of an order from Washington" to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to reach an agreement on commercial navigation in the Black Sea.
Lavrov also demanded, according to Russian news agencies, that Russia stop being "excluded" from the world fertilizer and grain market.
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