‘Russia, Ukraine agree to end Black Sea military action’

Washington: Russia and Ukraine agreed to halt military strikes in the Black Sea and on energy sites during talks brokered by the United States, which offered as a first concrete incentive to Moscow to ease pressure on agricultural exports, AFP reported on Tuesday.

With President Donald Trump pushing for a rapid end to the war that has killed tens of thousands of people, US negotiators shuttled separately over three days in the Saudi capital Riyadh between delegations from Ukraine and Russia.

In parallel statements, the White House said that each country “agreed to ensure safe navigation, eliminate the use of force and prevent the use of commercial vessels for military purposes in the Black Sea.”

The United States said it would also look for ways to enforce a ban on strikes on energy infrastructure in the two countries.

The Kremlin meanwhile said the agreement to halt strikes on the Black Sea could only come into force after the lifting of restrictions on its agriculture sector.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who has turned to diplomacy after heavy pressure from Trump including a brief ban on US aid and intelligence sharing, said it was too early to tell if the agreements will work but that they were “the right steps.”

“No one can accuse Ukraine of not moving towards sustainable peace after this,” Zelensky told a news conference in Kyiv.

Zelensky said that the talks also discussed bringing in third parties to oversee a future truce.

He said that Turkey, which has maintained ties with both sides, could monitor the situation on the Black Sea and that a Middle Eastern nation could look at the energy agreement.