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The White House announced Tuesday that it had reached separate agreements with Russia and Ukraine to allow for “safe navigation” in the Black Sea, eliminating a major roadblock for peace talks between the two countries.
The Trump administration, in two statements, said that technical-level talks between U.S., Russian and Ukrainian officials in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, resulted in agreements to “ensure safe navigation, eliminate the use of force, and prevent the use of commercial vessels for military purposes in the Black Sea.”
The U.S. also said it would help restore Russia’s “access to the world market for agricultural and fertilizer exports” and take steps to improve Moscow’s access to global shipping.
Both sides, according to the U.S., also agreed to work toward the implementation of the energy infrastructure ceasefire Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to in calls with President Donald Trump earlier this month. And the U.S. reiterated its commitment to “helping achieve the exchange of prisoners of war, the release of civilian detainees, and the return of forcibly transferred Ukrainian children.”
Neither the Kremlin nor Ukrainian government issued immediate statements, so it is unclear if the countries agreed to these exact terms.
The Russian and Ukrainian embassies in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
But an agreement along those lines would be a major breakthrough. The issue of shipping rights and safety in the Black Sea has vexed negotiators seeking to end Russia’s three-year invasion of Ukraine and shore up global supply chains that depend on grain, seed oil and fertilizer exports from both countries.
The war has upended shipments of grain through the Black Sea, ratcheting up global fears about food shortages. Many countries in Africa and the Middle East depend on these exports to sustain their food supplies.
An initial impasse was resolved in July 2022, when Turkey and the U.S. brokered the “Black Sea Grain Initiative,” which allowed vital food supplies to move through the Black Sea without threat of attack.
But the deal broke down in 2023 after the Kremlin issued a new set of demands for renewing the agreement. Successive efforts by Turkey and others to restore the deal fell short, although some Ukrainian grain still manages to make it through.
