Black Sea ceasefire agreed after intense talks, US says

Deal is most significant step yet towards peace settlement

- ALEX CROFT

Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a ceasefire in the Black Sea, the White House has said, following an intense round of negotiations in Saudi Arabia as Donald Trump pushes for a full peace deal to end Vladimir Putin’s three-year invasion.

A US delegation has engaged in separate talks with officials from Moscow and Kyiv since Sunday. Two meetings with the Ukrainians came on either side of a marathon 12-hour discussion with Moscow on Monday, described as “challenging” but “useful” by a member of Russia’s delegation.

Kyiv and Moscow both agreed to “ensure safe navigation, eliminate the use of force, and prevent the use of commercial vessels for military purposes in the Black Sea”, the White House announced yesterday. The agreements, if implemented, would represent the clearest progress yet towards a wider ceasefire, but both countries said they would rely on Washington to enforce the agreement.

Details of the prospective deal are yet to be released, but it appears to mark a revival of a 2022 agreement to ensure safe transit via Ukraine’s Black Sea ports that was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey and was halted by Russia the following year.

The White House statement also mentioned that the parties agreed to develop measures for implementing an agreement reached in President Trump’s calls with Putin and Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky last week to ban strikes against energy facilities in Russia and Ukraine. In that call, Putin rejected Mr Trump’s proposal for a full ceasefire lasting 30 days, which Ukraine had previously endorsed.