Separate agreements are the first formal commitments on the sides at war since the inauguration of Donald Trump, which has been pressing for the end of the war and a rapid approach to Moscow that alarmed the Kiev and European countries.
The US agreement with Russia goes beyond the agreement with Ukraine, with Washington committing to help to seek international sanctions on Russian agriculture and fertilizer exports, a persistent Russian demand for a long time.
Kremlin said Black Sea agreements would not come into force unless the links between some Russian banks and the international financial system have been restored.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said this was false, and there was no demand for the sanctions to be relieved for the agreements to come into force.
“Unfortunately, even now, even today, on the same day of negotiations, we see how the Russians have already started to manipulate,” Zelenskiy told his nightlife. “They are already trying to distort agreements and in fact deceive our intermediaries and the whole world.”
Kiev and Moscow said they would trust Washington to fulfill the agreements, while expressing skepticism that the other side would fulfill them.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, “We will have clear guarantees. And given the sad experience of Kiev’s only, the guarantees may only be the result of a Washington order to Zelenskiy and his team to do one thing and not the other.”
Zelenskiy said the truce agreements would be in effect immediately and that if Russia would violate them, he would ask Trump to impose additional sanctions on Moscow and provide more weapons to Ukraine.
“We have no faith in the Russians, but we will be constructive,” he said.
The agreements were reached after parallel negotiations in Saudi Arabia who followed separate calls last week between Trump and the two presidents, Zelenskiy and Vladimir Putin.
Putin rejected Trump’s proposal for a termination of 30 days, which Ukraine had previously endorsed.
But Washington, however, has softened his rhetoric of Russia in recent days, with Trump Steve Witkoff’s envoy saying he did not “consider Putin as a bad guy,” alarming European authorities who consider the Russian leader a dangerous enemy.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umarov said that Kiev would consider any movement of Russian military ships outside the eastern part of the Black Sea as a violation and a threat, in which case Ukraine would have the total self -defense law.
Break on attacks on energy facilities
Russia attacked Ukraine’s electricity grid with missiles and drones throughout the war, arguing that civil energy infrastructure is a legitimate target because it helps Ukraine’s combat capacity.
More recently, Ukraine has launched long -range attacks on Russian oil and gas targets, which say they provide fuel for Russia’s troops and income to finance their war effort.
Kremlin said the break in energy attacks would last 30 days from March 18, when Putin first discussed him with Trump. Ukraine had said last week that it would accept such a break only after a formal agreement.
The agreement on a truce at sea addresses a critical issue at the beginning of the war, when Russia imposed a naval block in fact on Ukraine, one of the largest grain exporters in the world, aggravating a global food crisis.
More recently, maritime battles have been just a comparatively small part of the war since Russia withdrew its naval forces from the East Black Sea after several successful Ukrainian attacks.
Kyiv was able to reopen its ports and resume exports around the levels before the war, despite the collapse of an anterior UN marine transport contract, but its ports were under regular air strike. Zelenskiy said the deal would prevent such attacks.
Moscow said the agreement would require sanctions relief, including the restoration of bonds between the Russian agricultural export bank and the Swift International Payments System. This and other steps may require agreement from European countries.
Trump is pressuring Moscow and Kiev to end the rapid end of the war, a goal he promised to achieve when he ran for president last year. At the same time, he is seeking a quick approach with Russia that Washington and Moscow say he could lead to profitable business opportunities.
Ukraine and its European allies fear that Trump can make a hurry with Putin, which harms his safety and sings to Russian demands, including Kiev to abandon his NATO ambitions and give up Moscow’s claimed land.
