Russia on Tuesday said it’s willing to strike a new agreement on the safety of shipping in the Black Sea if the United States ordered President Volodymyr Zelensky to respect it.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said only such an order would provide the assurances that Russia needed, which might be a possible stepping stone towards a ceasefire with Ukraine.

Each side criticised the other over the collapse in 2023 of an earlier agreement intended to ensure the safety of merchant shipping in the Black Sea after Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in February 2022.

“We will need clear guarantees. And given the sad experience of agreements with just Kyiv, the guarantees can only be the result of an order from Washington to Zelensky and his team to do one thing and not the other. And it seems to me that our American partners have received this signal. They understand that only Washington can achieve positive results in stopping terrorist attacks, stopping shelling of civilian infrastructure, and energy infrastructure not related to the military-industrial complex, Mr Lavrov said in televised comments.

Russia frequently accuses Ukraine of terrorist actions and Kyiv has often used similar language in response to Russian attacks that have killed thousands of civilians in Ukraine during three years of war.

Mr Lavrov’s comments indicated that Russia will demand a further tightening of U.S. pressure on Mr Zelensky before it will agree to a maritime ceasefire, which Washington said would be an important step towards a more comprehensive truce.

Mr Zelenskiy and Mr Trump had a disastrous meeting in the White House in February. Kyiv and its European allies fear Mr Trump could seal a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin that gives in to Russian demands and undermines their security.

The maritime ceasefire under discussion would be a successor to the earlier Black Sea deal that had allowed Ukraine to safely export nearly 33 million metric tonnes of grain in spite of the war.

However, Moscow withdrew in 2023, saying its own food and fertiliser exports faced serious issues because of Western sanctions affecting payments, logistics and insurance.

Kyiv had earlier accused Russia of obstructing the initiative.

Mr Lavrov said the market for grain and fertiliser needed to be “predictable.” He said Russia could not take Mr Zelensky at his word, a charge Mr Zelensky often levels at Mr Putin.

The Black Sea initiative was the priority of discussions at a meeting between U.S. and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia on Monday, Mr Lavrov added.

The Kremlin said earlier that both Russia and the U.S. were analysing the outcome of the talks, but the details would not be made public.

Ukraine’s national broadcaster Suspilne cited a source as saying Ukrainian and U.S. officials would meet in the Saudi capital Riyadh.

When Mr Trump and Mr Putin spoke earlier, the Russian leader declined a proposal by the U.S. president for a full 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine but agreed to a moratorium on attacking Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

Ukraine said it is ready to join a limited energy ceasefire if it is properly documented. 

(Reuters/NAN)