Agreement on safety of navigation in Black Sea will come into force only after sanctions are lifted - Kremlin statement
The Kremlin has issued a statement following talks with the United States in Saudi Arabia, emphasizing that certain agreements will come into effect only after Russian demands are fulfilled.
According to Censor.NET, this was reported by the Kremlin's press service.
Thus, the Russian side demands: to connect Rosselkhozbank and other financial institutions back to SWIFT and open correspondent accounts.
In July 2023, this was one of Russia's requirements for the continuation of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
The Kremlin has also stated that it wants sanctions lifted against food and fertilizer producers and exporters, as well as restrictions on insurance companies working with cargo transportation, and expanded access to ports and payment systems for such transactions.
In addition, the Kremlin is demanding that restrictions on port services for Russian-flagged ships involved in the food and fertilizer trade be lifted, and wants sanctions on the supply of agricultural machinery to Russia to be lifted.
The Kremlin also claims that the Russian Federation and the United States have agreed to develop measures to ban strikes on energy facilities in Russia and Ukraine for 30 days, starting on March 18, 2025, with the possibility of extending the agreement or withdrawing from it if Ukraine violates it.
Negotiations in Saudi Arabia
On March 24, in an evening video address, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that after meeting with the Russian delegation in Saudi Arabia, the US delegation would meet again with the Ukrainian team.
It should also be noted that on Sunday evening, March 23, representatives of Ukraine and the United States met in Saudi Arabia to discuss a possible partial ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia.
On March 24, 2025, the American and Russian delegations held talks in Riyadh. They lasted 12 hours.
It is worth noting that the points of agreement between Ukraine and the United States include: a ceasefire regime in the Black Sea and freedom of navigation; a ban on strikes against energy infrastructure; monitoring with the involvement of the United States and third parties; a commitment to move toward an unconditional ceasefire; and U.S. assistance to Ukraine in returning children, civilian hostages, and facilitating prisoner exchanges.
The US statement following the talks with Russia contains a different clause instead of the one on the return of Ukrainians from Russian territory: facilitating the restoration of access to the world market for Russian agricultural products and fertilizers.
