The White House said Tuesday that Russia and Ukraine agreed to a ceasefire in the Black Sea and a ban on striking each other’s energy facilities.
“If implemented, the agreements could mark a major step toward a wider deal to end the three-year-long war,” NBC News reported.
Both nations rely on Black Sea ports to conduct world trade.
The White House released two statements regarding the agreements reached between Russia and Ukraine.
In one, regarding talks with Russian officials in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, President Donald Trump’s team wrote, “The United States will help restore Russia’s access to the world market for agricultural and fertilizer exports, lower maritime insurance costs, and enhance access to ports and payment systems for such transactions.”
Further, “The United States and Russia agreed to develop measures for implementing President Trump’s and President [Vladimir] Putin’s agreement to ban strikes against energy facilities of Russia and Ukraine.”
BREAKING.🚨
THIS IS A BIG DEAL.
The United States, Russia, and Ukraine have come to major agreements that pave the way to PEACE.
“In line with presidential-level discussions between President Donald J. Trump and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the United States facilitated… pic.twitter.com/tLgyAdUCKx
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) March 25, 2025
In a second statement regarding talks with Ukrainian officials in Riyadh, the White House said, “The United States and Ukraine agreed that the United States remains committed to helping achieve the exchange of prisoners of war, the release of civilian detainees, and the return of forcibly transferred Ukrainian children.”
Do you think the war in Ukraine will be over soon?
Both statements read, “The United States reiterated to both sides President Donald J. Trump’s imperative that the killing on both sides of the Russia-Ukraine conflict must stop, as the necessary step toward achieving an enduring peace settlement.
“To that end, the United States will continue facilitating negotiations between both sides to achieve a peaceful resolution, in line with the agreements made in Riyadh.”
NBC noted, “Neither statement mentioned security guarantees for Ukraine or efforts to regain land seized by Russia, which currently holds around 20 percent of its smaller neighbor’s territory.”
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Reuters that his country would only sign the Black Sea deal if Trump issued an order to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to respect it.
“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 Zelenskyy and his team to do one thing and not the other,” he said.
Meanwhile, USA Today reported, Zelenskyy told reporters at a news conference in Kyiv, “If the Russians violate this, then I have a direct question for President Trump. If they violate, here is the evidence — we ask for sanctions, we ask for weapons, etc.”
Ukrainian President Zelenskiy sees a partial ceasefire taking effect following talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, with the US and possibly other countries monitoring whether sides stick to the truce (translation via AP) https://t.co/8hZyVuZEZj pic.twitter.com/LAHcZNTgs7
— Bloomberg (@business) March 25, 2025
Zelenskyy called the agreement the first step toward a potential full ceasefire.
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