Russia and Ukraine agreed yesterday to halt military strikes in the Black Sea, achieving a tentative first step towards peace in talks with the United States held in Saudi Arabia.
With President Donald Trump pushing for a rapid end to the war that has killed tens of thousands of people, US negotiators met separately over three days in the Saudi capital Riyadh with delegations from Kyiv 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 reiterated Trump's "imperative that the killing on both sides of the Russia-Ukraine conflict must stop, as the necessary step toward achieving an enduring peace settlement," it said.
"To that end, the United States will continue facilitating negotiations between both sides to achieve a peaceful resolution, in line with the agreements made in Riyadh."
In the most concrete incentive offered to Russia since the West imposed sweeping sanctions over the 2022 invasion, the United States said it would "help restore access to the world market" for Russian agricultural and fertilizer exports.
The United States never directly put sanctions on Russian agriculture but had restricted access to payment systems used for international transactions.
The issue became a major talking point for Russia, which told countries in the developing world that US policies -- not the war itself -- were contributing to higher prices.
Ukraine, which turned to diplomacy after heavy pressure from Trump including a brief cutoff in military aid and intelligence, said that details of the Black Sea ceasefire needed to be worked out.
"It is important to hold additional technical consultations as soon as possible to agree on all the details and technical aspects of the implementation, monitoring and control of the arrangements," Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who took part in the talks, said on social media.
