peace talks US – Russia

Russia and Ukraine agree to ‘eliminate the use of force’ in Black Sea

Publié le

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, at a press conference on 25 March, said Ukraine was concerned the US appeared to be talking to the Kremlin about territory. Photograph: Genya Savilov/AFP/Getty Images

Kremlin stipulates maritime ceasefire will start only if it gets sanctions relief on agricultural exports

Dan Sabbagh in Kyiv, Pjotr Sauer, and Andrew Roth in Washington
Wed 26 Mar 2025 00.40 GMT

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.

Donald Trump said that the US was reviewing the Russian conditions after the Kremlin insisted it had negotiated concessions with the White House that would mark the first major recision of sanctions since the full-scale invasion of 2022.

The warring parties also agreed to implement a previously announced 30-day halt on attacks against energy networks and to 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 that the US had talked to the Kremlin team about dividing Ukraine.

According to reports, Russia has told the US it wants full control of three of the Ukrainian regions it 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. Lire la suite »

Cette entrée a été publiée dans Société et taguée , , .