U.S. and Russian officials discussed a possible Russian-Ukrainian agreement on navigation safety in the Black Sea during talks in Saudi Arabia earlier this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told state media Tuesday.
The White House said the talks, held in Riyadh on Monday, were aimed at securing a maritime truce in the Black Sea as part of a broader diplomatic effort Washington hopes will lead to peace negotiations.
“The negotiations ended with the fact that their preliminary results are now being reported to the president of Russia and the president of the United States,” Lavrov told the state-run broadcaster Channel One.
Months after Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the sides reached a UN- and Turkey-mediated agreement, known as the Black Sea Grain Initiative, which allowed Ukraine to safely export grain.
Russia withdrew from the deal a year later, citing violations of its terms. In response, Ukraine established its own Black Sea export corridor by driving the Russian Navy away from contested waters with costly attacks.
Lavrov said any new Black Sea deal, which would ease restrictions on Russia’s agricultural exports, would depend on the United States “ordering” Ukraine to accept it.
The senior diplomat added that Russia favors resuming Black Sea shipping “in a way that’s more acceptable for everyone” and called for “clear, specific, verifiable, and working guarantees and mechanisms.”
“Russia will need clear guarantees when resuming the Black Sea initiative, which can only be achieved on Washington’s orders to [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky,” Lavrov said.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Kremlin said it was not ready to publicly discuss the details of the talks in Saudi Arabia.
“It’s now a matter of technical negotiations,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. "Technical means discussions that delve into the details, so, of course, the content of these negotiations will definitely not be made public.”
Peskov added that Kremlin officials were “analyzing” reports drafted by Russian delegates who attended the talks in Riyadh, and “only after that can we talk about any understanding.”
Ukrainian and U.S. officials met in Saudi Arabia shortly after talks with representatives from Russia ended, AFP reported, citing a Ukrainian source who said “details will be announced later.”
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