Russia and Ukraine agree Black Sea truce

Russia and Ukraine have agreed to "eliminate the use of force" in the Black Sea after parallel talks with US negotiators in Saudi Arabia, though the Kremlin said a maritime ceasefire would start only if it received sanctions relief on agricultural exports.

- Dan Sabbagh ,Pjotr Sauer

The warring parties also agreed to implement a previously announced 30-day halt on attacks against energy networks and expand its scope, but resolving fundamental issues, including any division of territory, remains far off.

Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, welcomed the developments but said Kyiv did not support weakening sanctions on Russia and voiced concern over talks the US appeared to be having with the Kremlin about a partition of Ukraine.

"We are worried when they talk about us without us," Zelenskyy said in a media briefing, responding to comments by Donald Trump on Monday, when the US president said: "We're talking about territory right now."

Ukrainian negotiators in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, had had no discussions of their own about the future division of territory, Zelenskyy added, saying it appeared the US had talked to the Kremlin team about dividing Ukraine.

According to reports, Russia has told the US that it wants full control of three of the Ukrainian regions it only partially occupies - Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. The claims have been consistently rejected by Kyiv, which has only indicated it is prepared to acknowledge the existing de facto Russian occupation along the prevailing lines of control.

The White House published two statements, each containing five main points, four of which were identical. Both "agreed to ensure safe navigation, eliminate the use of force" in the Black Sea - a reference to a ceasefire though the word itself was not used.

The key difference was that the Russian statement said the US would "help restore Russia's access to the world market for agricultural and fertiliser exports" by lowering insurance costs and improving access to payment systems and ports.