Russia said Tuesday that he was willing to reach a new agreement on the security of shipping in the Black Sea, a possible springboard towards a high fire with Ukraine, but only if the United States ordered President Volodymyr Zelensky to respect him.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that only such order would provide the guarantees that Russia needed.
Each side criticized the other for the collapse in 2023 of a previous agreement aimed at guaranteeing the safety of merchant shipping in the Black Sea after Russia sent tens of thousands of troops to Ukraine in February 2022.
“We will need clear guarantees. And given the sad experience of the agreements with Solo kyiv, the guarantees can only be the result of a Washington order to Zelensky and his team to do one thing and not the other,” Lavrov said in televised comments.
“And it seems to me that our American partners have received this signal. They understand that only Washington can achieve positive results in stopping terrorist attacks, stopping the bombardment of civil infrastructure, the energy infrastructure not related to the military-industrial complex.”
Russia often accuses Ukraine of “terrorist” actions and kyiv has often used a similar language in response to Russian attacks that have killed thousands of civilians in Ukraine for three years of war.
Lavrov’s comments indicated that Russia will demand a greater adjustment of American pressure on Zelensky before accepting a high sea fire, what Washington says it would be an important step towards a more integral truce.
Zelensky and Trump had a disastrous meeting at the White House last month, and kyiv and his European allies fear that Trump can seal an agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin that yields to Russian demands and undermines his safety.
Successor of the Black Sea Agreement
The high maritime fire in discussion would be a successor of the previous agreement of the Black Sea that had allowed Ukraine to export almost 33 million metric tons of grains despite the war.
Moscow retired in 2023, saying that their own exports of food and fertilizers faced serious problems due to western sanctions that affect payments, logistics and insurance. Kyiv had previously accused Russia of obstructing the initiative.
Lavrov said that the grain and fertilizer market should be “predictable.” He said that Russia could not take Zelensky in his word, a position that Zelensky often levels in Putin.
The Black Sea initiative was the priority of discussions at a meeting between US and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia on Monday, Lavrov added.
The Kremlin today said that both Russia and the United States were analyzing the result of the conversations, but the details would not be made public.
National slope of Ukraine Suspicious He cited a source saying that Ukrainian and American officials would meet today in the Saudi capital Riyadh.
When Trump and Putin spoke last week, the Russian leader rejected a proposal from the president of the United States for a high 30 -day fire in Ukraine, but agreed a moratorium on attacking the Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
Ukraine says that it is ready to join a high limited energy fire if it is properly documented.
