Big breakthrough in Russia-Ukraine war; US says both have agreed to Black Sea ceasefire

The United States announced on Tuesday that it has reached separate agreements with Ukraine and Russia to ensure safe navigation in the Black Sea. It also confirmed a deal between the two have also agreed to not attack each other’s energy facilities, in a big breakthrough in the Russia-Ukraine war.

While Russia has agreed for a Black sea ceasefire, it has, however, said that Moscow does not trust Ukraine's President Zelensky. Russia said it could therefore only sign a Black Sea deal if Washington issued an “order” to him to respect it.

“We will need clear guarantees,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

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“And given the sad experience of agreements with just Kyiv, the guarantees can only be the result of an order from Washington to Zelenskiy and his team to do one thing and not the other,” he said.

Ukraine, on the other hand, has said that it does not trust Russia to respect the deal between the two countries. In an attempt for peace, Kyiv has signed both the deals – to pause attacks on energy facilities and maritime ceasefire.

But Ukraine said it would regard any movement of Russian military vessels outside the eastern part of the Black Sea as a violation and a threat.

Kremlin agrees for Black Sea ceasefire but with a condition

The Kremlin announced on Tuesday that Russia is willing to guarantee safe navigation in the Black Sea, but only if Western sanctions on companies involved in food and fertilizer exports are lifted.

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The US said Washington “will help restore Russia’s access to the world market for agricultural and fertilizer exports, lower maritime insurance costs, and enhance access to ports and payment systems for such transactions.”