The Russian Federation has put forward demands for consent to a ceasefire in the Black Sea

Russia put forward a number of demands for agreement on a ceasefire in the Black Sea, which became the subject of discussion at a meeting of representatives of the Russian Federation, the United States and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia on March 23-25. This is stated in the statement of the Kremlin following the negotiations with the American delegation.

Moscow confirmed information previously released by the White House that the parties agreed to “ensure the safety of shipping, exclude the use of force and prevent the use of commercial vessels for military purposes in the Black Sea.”

At the same time, the Kremlin said that the United States agreed to “help restore Russia’s access to the world market for the export of agricultural products and fertilizers.”

However, Russia emphasized that these obligations will only come into force after a number of sanctions are lifted, including:

• from “Rosselkhozbank” and other banks that participate in the export of food and fertilizers;
• from companies producing and exporting food and fertilizers, as well as from insurance companies providing these cargoes;
• from ships under the Russian flag that transport food and fertilizers, as well as from servicing such ships in ports;
• for the supply to Russia of agricultural machinery and other goods necessary for the production of food and fertilizers.

Note that these conditions are not mentioned in the White House’s official statement on the results of the negotiations.

We will remind that on March 25, the Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Rustem Umyerov, announced that additional technical consultations are needed to implement the agreements regarding the ceasefire in the Black Sea and strikes on the energy infrastructure.