We’ll sign Black Sea deal if US gives order to Zelensky – Russia

Russia on Tuesday said it was willing to strike a new agreement on the safety of shipping in the Black Sea, a possible stepping stone towards a ceasefire with Ukraine, only if the United States ordered President Volodymyr Zelensky to respect it.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said only such an order would provide the assurances that Russia needed.

Each side had 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 Zelenskiy 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,”; Lavrov said.

Russia has frequently accused 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.

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

It will be recalled that Zelensky and Trump had a disastrous meeting in the White House last month, and Kyiv and its European allies fear Trump could seal a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin that gives in to Russian demands and undermines their security.