The U.S., Russia and Ukraine have agreed to "eliminate the use of force" and prevent the use of commercial vessels for military purposes in the Black Sea following two-day talks in Saudi Arabia, the White House announced on March 25.
Washington also vowed to help restore Russia’s access to the world market for agricultural and fertilizer exports, lower maritime insurance costs, and enhance access to ports and payment systems for such transactions.
Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said that Kyiv would consider it a violation of the deal if Russia moved its warships outside of the eastern part of the Black Sea. This will be regarded as threat to Ukraine's national security, he added.
"In this case Ukraine will have the full right to exercise right to self-defense," Umerov said.
The U.S. also said it had agreed with Russia and Ukraine to develop measures to ban strikes on energy facilities in both countries.
Separately, Washington and Kyiv agreed that the U.S. would help to achieve the exchange of prisoners of war, the release of civilian detainees, and the return of Ukrainian children who have been deported by Russia.
Kyiv aims to conduct an all-for-all prisoner exchange, but so far, such a step has been obstructed by Russia, Ukrainian officials said.
Delegates from Moscow and Washington held a 12-hour meeting in Riyadh on March 24 to discuss the possibilities of a ceasefire in Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine. The talks reportedly focused largely on a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea.
Ukrainian officials have been briefed on the outcomes of the U.S.-Russia talks before their publication, an undisclosed source told CBS News.
U.S. President Donald Trump also previously revealed that the Riyadh talks concerned demarcation lines and ownership of a Ukrainian power plant. President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he had discussed the status of the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in his phone call with Trump last week.
The U.S. delegation was led by Andrew Peek, a senior director at the U.S. National Security Council, and Michael Anton, a senior State Department official, an undisclosed source told Reuters.
The Russian delegation included Grigory Karasin, chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, and Sergey Beseda, an advisor to Federal Security Service (FSB) Director Alexander Bortnikov.
The talks were the latest step in Trump's attempt to secure a peace deal between Kyiv and Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected Washington's proposal for a 30-day ceasefire during a call with Trump on March 18, but offered to immediately impose a partial ceasefire on energy sector attacks.
Despite the agreement, Russia continued its regular campaign of aerial attacks against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.
A U.S. team also met with a Ukrainian delegation in Riyadh on March 23, the day before the Russia talks. Ukraine's team reportedly remained in Saudi Arabia for a subsequent meeting with the U.S. delegates.
The Kyiv Independent
(Updated: )
