Ukraine and Russia agree to Black Sea ceasefire and ban on energy attacks

The US reached separate agreements on Tuesday with Ukraine and Russia to ensure safe navigation in the Black Sea and to implement a ban on attacks by the two countries on each other’s energy facilities.

The agreements, if implemented, would represent the clearest progress yet towards a wider ceasefire that Washington sees as a stepping stone towards peace talks to bring an end to Russia’s three-year-old war in Ukraine.

Both countries said they would rely on Washington to enforce the deals.

“If the Russians violate this, then I have a direct question for President Trump. If they violate, here is the evidence – we ask for sanctions, we ask for weapons, et cetera,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters at a news conference in Kyiv.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said: “We will need clear guarantees. And given the sad experience of agreements with just Kyiv, the guarantees can only be the result of an order from Washington to Zelensky and his team to do one thing and not the other.”

The agreements, reached in Saudi Arabia, follow talks initiated by US President Donald Trump, who has vowed to swiftly end the war and has shifted Washington’s position from firmly backing Kyiv to a stance more sympathetic with Moscow.

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‘This is not a celebration’: Ukraine marks third anniversary of Russian invasion

‘This is not a celebration’: Ukraine marks third anniversary of Russian invasion