Despite US President Donald Trump’s demands for an end to the three-year conflict, the most recent round of US-mediated discussions between Russia and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia came to an end without a peace deal.
But, the White House claims that both countries have separate agreements to prevent military attacks on ships in the Black Sea.
In a related statement, the White House stated that Russia and Ukraine “agreed to ensure safe transportation, reduce the use of force, and avoid the use of industrial vessels for military purposes in the Black Sea.”
Russia rejected the proposal, demanding a fresh Black Sea industry agreement that would gain its exports, despite Ukraine previously agreeing to an absolute ceasefire earlier this month.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reportedly urged any deal to incorporate a novel Black Sea program that safeguards Russian business interests. We are” for restarting the Black Sea Initiative in some kind of form, in a more appropriate way for all,” Lavrov said, adding that Moscow does not want to be forced out of the world’s corn and fertilizer business.
He went further, urging US pressure to “order” Volodymyr Zelenskyy to take a deal of this nature. According to Lavrov,” Moscow believes that this can only be accomplished by Zelensky and his team receiving an attempt from Washington.”
The UN and Turkey brokered the Black Sea agreement in 2022, which allowed Ukraine to export corn carefully, but Russia withdrew from it in July 2023, claiming that its own agrarian exports were still restricted.
Ukraine warned that Russian warship movements “outside the eastern piece” of the Black Sea may offend the US-brokered deal despite the deal on vehicle protection.
Rustem Umerov, the minister of defense in Ukraine, stated on Twitter that “Ukraine may include full right to exercise its right to self-defence” if Russian ships moved outside the designated place.
Discussions fail to lead to any advances
Following 12 hours of discussions with Russian associates the day before, US officials met with the Russian delegation for a second round of simple discussions on Tuesday. Negotiations broke out immediately after they began, according to a Russian resource, with no progress being made.
The Kremlin acknowledged that discussions were taking place, but downplayed the likelihood of a decision right away. According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the articles of the debate will not be made public. There is no set time for more conversations.
Grigory Karasin, a senior Russian negotiator, described the discussions as “intense” and “useful,” but he also acknowledged that” we are far from solving everything.” He suggested that the UN and other nations do participate in upcoming conversations.
Although political conversations slowed, the actual issue on the ground showed no sign of abating. According to Ukrainian officers, 78 out of 139 robots launched by Russia on Tuesday were intercepted by their heat defense forces.
The death toll from a Soviet missile attack on Monday increased to 101, including 23 children, in Sumy’s northern city. The Sumy provincial administration reported that the attack” caused a school evacuation and a personal area.”
In addition, Russia asserted that it had taken control of two more settlements in the southern and eastern parts of Ukraine. The Kremlin has stated on numerous occasions that it will not relinquish any of the territory it has seized.
