The White House said Russia and Ukraine agreed to a tentative ceasefire in the Black Sea region — the result of three days of marathon talks in Riyadh this week that marked the latest in U.S. efforts to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine.
Moscow and Kyiv agreed to "eliminate the use of force" and "prevent the use of commercial vessels for military purposes" through the Black Sea, the White House said.
Less clear: when the partial ceasefire would begin — or even if conditions to implement the agreement could be met.
Russian demands
Russia made clear its participation would only come into force once the U.S. had lifted various sanctions that the Kremlin argues hampers its maritime trade.
In a statement, the Kremlin laid out specific sanctions-related snags to agricultural trade that should be addressed — including restoration of access to the international SWIFT payment system for Russia's state agricultural bank, servicing of Russian sea vessels in foreign ports, and lower prices for insurance companies working with Russian cargo.
In doing so, the Kremlin openly acknowledged it was re-upping complaints that doomed a 2022 United Nations-brokered initiative to restore the safe export of Russian and Ukrainian grain and fertilizer to world markets at a time of global food shortages.
Russia exited the deal on the grounds the agreement helped Ukraine ship grain while failing to lift restrictions on Russian fertilizer exports — something the Kremlin spokesperson said Moscow hoped wouldn't bear repeating.
"Of course, this time justice must prevail," said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. "We'll continue to work with the Americans."
Sanctions relief by another name
Yet it remained unclear whether the U.S. could meet the Russian demands for sanctions relief without support from European allies that remain far more skeptical of Moscow's intentions.
In announcing the deal, the White House was more muted in its stated concessions to the Kremlin — offering to "help restore" Russian access to global markets.
Speaking to the press, President Trump, too, appeared to acknowledge there was still work to be done to meet the Russian demands.
"We will be looking at them and we're thinking about all of them right now," said Trump. "There are about five or six [Russian] conditions."
Meanwhile, Ukraine voiced deep skepticism over Russia's insistence of unilateral sanctions relief — with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presenting it as the latest Kremlin effort to manipulate the Trump White House and continue the war.
"... If this agreement also fails, if Russians do not fulfill the terms of today's agreements and instead try once again to pressure the U.S., Europe, and Ukraine, then I believe there should be only one response: definitely new sanctions, definitely more pressure," said Zelenskyy in his nightly wartime address to the nation Tuesday.
Perhaps with that in mind, the White House issued a separate statement that engaged Kyiv on a demand it has made of Trump ever since he returned to office.
Washington "remained committed" to helping Ukraine with the return of children, civilians and prisoners of war held by Russia, said the statement.
The White House's Black Sea ceasefire proposal builds on last week's effort to convince Ukraine and Russia to suspend attacks on energy infrastructure for 30 days.
That agreement, too, has struggled to live up to its mission.
Both Moscow and Kyiv have repeatedly accused one another of violating the deal — just as both sides have continued attacks on targets outside the agreement.
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