The White House said that both Russia and Ukraine have agreed to ensure safe passage of shipping in the Black Sea and will “develop instruments” to ban strikes on energy assets in two separate statements after a second round of negotiations wound up in Riyadh on March 25.

Any movement of Russian military vessels beyond the eastern part of the Black Sea will be considered a violation of the "spirit of this agreement", the White House statement said.

"All parties have 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 statement said.

Ukraine and the US also agreed "to develop measures for implementing the presidents' agreement to ban attacks on either Ukrainian or Russian energy facilities.”

President Putin provisionally agreed to halt attacks on energy assets, but warned there were “nuances” and specifically asked who and how such a ceasefire would be monitored and policed.

A Kremlin statement released about the same time as the US statement said the ceasefire deal is dependent on the US lifting a string of sanctions, starting with the restrictions on Russia’s main agricultural bank, Rosselkhozbank.

If the US has agreed to the relief of this sanction, that would be a major concession by the West and a major gain for Putin. The US statement is vague on sanctions relief and only refers to “help restore Russia’s access to global markets,” but adds no detail on what this help is.

The consultations also led to "all parties" expressing support for the involvement of "the good offices of third countries with a view toward supporting the implementation of the energy and maritime agreements", according to Ukraine’s Defence Minister Rustam Umerov.

Earlier the Russian said it was open to the UN being invited to participate in the Black Sea deal. The 2022 Black Sea Grain Initiative deal was brokered and supervised by the UN until Russia withdrew a year later.

Statements

The White House listed the following deal points in its statement:

• The United States and Russia have 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 will help restore Russia’s access to the world market for agricultural and fertiliser exports, lower maritime insurance costs and enhance access to ports and payment systems for such transactions.
• The United States and Russia agreed to develop measures for implementing President Trump’s and President Putin’s agreement to ban strikes against energy facilities of Russia and Ukraine.
• The United States and Russia welcome the good offices of third countries with a view toward supporting the implementation of the energy and maritime agreements.
• The United States and Russia will continue working towards achieving a durable and lasting peace.

The Kremlin also released a statement at the same time, which listed the following points:

·        In accordance with the agreement between the Presidents of Russia and the United States, the Russian and American sides agreed to ensure the implementation of the “Black Sea Initiative,” which includes ensuring the safety of navigation in the Black Sea, non-use of force, and prevention of the use of commercial vessels for military purposes while organising appropriate control measures through inspection of such vessels.

·        The United States will help restore access for Russian agricultural and fertiliser exports to the world market, reduce the cost of marine insurance, and expand access to ports and payment systems to conduct such transactions.

·        Russia and the United States agreed to develop measures to implement the agreements between the presidents of the two countries on a ban on strikes on energy facilities in Russia and Ukraine for a period of 30 days, starting on March 18, 2025, with the possibility of extension and withdrawal from the agreement in the event of non-compliance by one of the parties.

·        Russia and the United States welcome good offices from third countries aimed at supporting the implementation of agreements in the energy and maritime sectors.

·        Russia and the United States will continue to work to achieve a strong and lasting peace.

However, the Kremlin’s statement went on to highlight that these two points would only come into effect after a multitude of sanctions are lifted, including:

·        Lifting sanctions restrictions from Rosselkhozbank and other financial organisations involved in ensuring operations on international trade in food products (including fish products) and fertilisers, connecting them to SWIFT and opening the necessary correspondent accounts;

·        Lifting restrictions on trade finance transactions;

·        Lifting sanctions restrictions on companies producing and exporting food (including fish products) and fertilisers, as well as lifting restrictions on the work of insurance companies with cargoes of food (including fish products) and fertilisers;

·        Lifting restrictions on servicing ships in ports and sanctions against ships under the Russian flag involved in the trade of food products (including fish products) and fertilisers;

·        Lifting restrictions on the supply of agricultural machinery to the Russian Federation, as well as other goods used in the production of food (including fish products) and fertilisers.

 

Up in the air for now

The nature of the agreement remains shaky. After Putin agreed to a limited 30-day ceasefire in a 1.5-hour phone call with Trump on March 18, the Kremlin claimed that Putin had ordered all attacks to cease, but Bankova (Ukraine’s equivalent of the Kremlin) reported that attacks had continued and those against non-energy assets had increased in intensity.

In his evening address Zelenskiy was understandably sceptical.

“Russia’s actions in the coming days will reveal everything. If air raids, Black Sea military activity and threats continue, new measures against Moscow will be needed,” Zelenskiy said in his video blog.

“Diplomacy must work. Ukraine is doing its part, and we thank the US for constructive efforts. But results must come from Russia – no one believes their words. They must prove they’re ready to end the war and stop lying to the world, to Trump and to America,” Zelenskiy said.

Russian claims ownership of Ukraine’s biggest nuclear power plant

Russia has rejected the bid by Trump to take control over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) or even take ownership of the plant. The joint use of ZNPP by Russia and any other country is unacceptable, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

"Sharing the use of the ZNPP with any other country is also unacceptable. This is unprecedented in global practice. In particular, in such a case, it would be impossible to properly ensure nuclear safety and security, and resolve the issues of civil liability for nuclear damage," the statement reads.

Moscow will never hand the ZNPP over to Ukraine or any other country, the ministry stressed.

"The plant’s restoration as part of Russia’s nuclear energy industry is a reality and the international community can only accept it. It is impossible to hand the ZNPP or control of it over to Ukraine or any other country," the document said.

It gets tougher from here

The talks in the first two days of this week kicked off with a relatively easy issue; an agreement to allow shipping to work unmolested in the Black Sea was already agreed in the summer of 2022 and a renewal of the old deal was relatively straightforward.

Putin will be pleased, as it appears the US has agreed to ease sanctions as part of the “cards” that Trump is playing on Ukraine’s behalf, but has won Ukraine little in return.

The Kremlin asked for sanctions relief on the bank in 2022 and was refused. But by conceding sanctions relief in this deal, Trump will have made a major concession, as tough US financial sanctions have been amongst the only effective sanctions on the Kremlin.

The talks will get tougher from here, and culminate in a very difficult discussion over the sovereignty of the four regions Russia annexed in 2023.

Zelenskiy has said that acknowledging Russian sovereignty over Ukrainian land was a red line he would not cross, but multiple officials from the US have said clearly they expect Kyiv to make concessions.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has stated that no agreements have been made with Ukraine regarding the territories, but it is clear that the US and Russia are discussing these issues, Ukrainska Pravda reports.

"I think the American side is discussing territories with the Russians... We're concerned that it’s the United States that should have influence on Russia, not vice versa. That's the key thing for us. President Trump has enough power, tools, sanctions, etc to push Putin into ending this war. We're concerned when they discuss something about us without us,” Zelenskiy said in the evening of March 25 after a second round of talks between the US and Ukrainian teams were completed in Riyadh.

"And there have been no agreements with us on the territory. They know this is a sensitive issue. I've been saying this from the very beginning,” Zelenskiy added.