Russia said on Tuesday, the 25th of March, that it was ready to sign a new agreement on maritime security in the Black Sea, which could be a step towards a ceasefire with Ukraine, but only if the US orders President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to respect it, reports Reuters.
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said only such an order would give Russia the guarantees it needs.
The two sides criticised each other for breaking an earlier agreement in 2023 aimed at securing commercial shipping in the Black Sea after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
“We will need clear guarantees. And given the sad experience of concluding agreements with Kyiv, the guarantees can only be Washington’s order to Zelenskyy and his team to do one thing and not the other,” Lavrov said in televised comments.
“And I think that our American partners have received this signal. They understand that only Washington can achieve positive results to stop terrorist attacks, to stop shelling civilian infrastructure, energy infrastructure that is not connected to the military-industrial complex.”
Russia often accuses Ukraine of “terrorist” activities, and Kyiv also accuses Russia of terrorism in response to Russian attacks that have killed thousands of civilians in the three-year war in Ukraine.
Lavrov’s comments suggested that Russia would demand further intensified US pressure on Zelenskyy before agreeing to a maritime ceasefire, which Washington says would be an important step towards a more comprehensive truce.
The negotiated maritime truce would be a follow-up to the earlier Black Sea agreement, which allowed Ukraine to safely export almost 33 million tonnes of grain.
Moscow withdrew from it in 2023, saying its food and fertiliser exports faced serious problems due to Western sanctions affecting payments, logistics and insurance. Kyiv has previously accused Russia of obstructing the initiative.
Lavrov said that the grain and fertiliser market should be “predictable”. He said that Russia cannot trust Zelenskyy, which is what Zelenskyy often says about Putin.
Lavrov added that the Black Sea initiative was a priority during talks between US and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia on Monday.
The Kremlin said earlier on Tuesday that both Russia and the US were analysing the outcome of the talks, but details would not be made public.
Ukraine’s national broadcaster “Suspilne”, citing a source, said that Ukrainian and US officials would meet in the Saudi capital Riyadh on Tuesday to continue talks.
Last week, in a conversation between Trump and Putin, the Russian leader rejected the US president’s proposal for a full 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, but agreed to halt attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Ukraine says it is ready to agree to a limited ceasefire if it is properly documented.