Black Sea ceasefire is a con job with Zelensky the 'mark'

Many observers are dismissing the Black Sea ceasefire mediated by the Americans as an insignificant step that shows how far from peace Russia and Ukraine still are. But from the Kremlin's point of view, what seems technical actually has strategic advantages.

- MARK ALMOND

Much Western attention has been on the concrete economic advantages for Russia. Ukraine's use of Western-supplied antiship missiles and homemade drones to force the Russian navy's surface fleet out of the Black Sea has also inhibited the crossing of Russian merchant vessels that are used to carry agricultural products from fertile regions north of the Caucasus.

Getting agricultural and fertiliser exports running at full steam will give Putin a welcome additional hard currency stream on top of his oil and gas exports. But all of this depends on getting paid. It is the EU, not the USA, which has a key role in this matter. The Russians insist that sanctions on their agricultural Rosselkhozbank must be lifted. This means that it will be able to access payments via the Swift system. But that transfer system is based in Belgium.