Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a naval ceasefire in the Black Sea in separate deals with the United States, following three days of peace talks in Saudi Arabia, officials confirmed on Tuesday.
According to statements from Washington, both sides have committed to halting strikes in the strategic waterway and pledged to develop measures for enforcing a previously agreed ban on attacks against each other’s energy infrastructure.
However, Russia has conditioned the ceasefire’s implementation on the lifting of several sanctions targeting its food and fertiliser trade.
The breakthrough comes as US officials separately met negotiators from Moscow and Kyiv in Riyadh, although the two warring parties did not engage in direct talks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed the development but cautioned that its success remained uncertain. “It is too early to say that it will work, but these were the right meetings, the right decisions, the right steps,” he told reporters in Kyiv.
“No one can accuse Ukraine of not moving towards sustainable peace after this,” he added, in an apparent response to former US president Donald Trump’s earlier claim that Kyiv was blocking peace efforts.
Shortly after the US announcement, the Kremlin stated that the ceasefire would not take effect until restrictions on Russian banks and agricultural exports were lifted. Moscow has specifically demanded the reconnection of certain Russian banks to the SwiftPay system, the removal of curbs on ships carrying food under the Russian flag, and the resumption of agricultural machinery exports to Russia.
The White House acknowledged these concerns, stating that the US would “help restore Russia’s access to the world market for agricultural and fertiliser exports.” However, it did not provide a clear timeline for when the agreement would take effect.
Asked about the possibility of lifting sanctions, Trump, who is seeking a return to the presidency in November, said: “We’re thinking about all of them right now. We’re looking at them.”
Zelensky, however, described Washington’s stance as a “weakening of positions” and vowed to push for more sanctions on Russia should Moscow fail to uphold its commitments.
Ukraine’s Defence Minister Rustem Umerov said that “third countries” could be involved in overseeing aspects of the ceasefire. However, he warned that any movement of Russian warships beyond the eastern Black Sea would be considered a violation of the agreement and a “threat to Ukraine’s national security.”
“In this case, Ukraine will have full right to exercise self-defence,” he said.
The agreement follows a previous grain export deal in 2022, which allowed cargo ships to safely navigate the Black Sea. However, after multiple extensions, Russia withdrew from the arrangement in July 2023, citing unfulfilled commitments.
Both countries remain major global exporters of grain, and the collapse of the Black Sea grain deal led to increased food prices worldwide.
Alongside the naval ceasefire, both sides have also reaffirmed their commitment to prohibiting attacks on each other’s energy infrastructure. However, tensions remain high, with both Kyiv and Moscow accusing each other of recent violations.
Russian strikes on Ukraine’s power supply have caused widespread blackouts since the start of the war, while Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy sites have drawn condemnation from Moscow.
The original ban on energy infrastructure attacks was agreed upon last week during a call between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, but was quickly followed by fresh accusations of violations from both sides.
On Tuesday, Moscow claimed Ukraine had targeted Russian civilian energy sites even as negotiations were ongoing in Riyadh. Meanwhile, Kyiv reported Russian missile and drone strikes overnight, saying 139 drones and a ballistic missile had been launched against Ukrainian targets.
In a separate development, Ukraine claimed that an airstrike on Russian military infrastructure in Kursk killed at least 30 Russian troops.
