Putin Rejects Black Sea Ceasefire Without Sanctions Relief from Trump
Vladimir Putin has rejected proposals for a new Black Sea ceasefire unless Donald Trump agrees to lift international sanctions on Russia.
The demand is one of several conditions set by the Russian leader, who also insists on full access to global food and fertilizer markets and reintegration into international banking systems. These stipulations come as part of negotiations for a maritime truce with Ukraine.
On Tuesday, the White House formally announced the Black Sea ceasefire after 12 hours of intense talks between U.S. and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia. However, the agreement has faced criticism for going beyond a similar deal with Ukraine. It includes U.S. commitments to help Russia remove numerous global sanctions imposed following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Among these, Washington has pledged to assist in lifting restrictions on agricultural and fertilizer exports.
Despite these concessions, Moscow has remained firm, stating that no ceasefire will take effect until sanctions are lifted. The delay is the latest in a series of tactics by the Kremlin, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and European allies accuse of stalling peace negotiations.
The latest round of talks in Saudi Arabia initially failed when Russia outright rejected a U.S.-Ukraine proposal for a 30-day ceasefire, despite a lengthy phone call between Presidents Putin and Trump.
When discussions resumed on Monday, the focus was supposed to be on the Black Sea ceasefire. However, Russia instead presented new demands, including additional Ukrainian territory.
While progress has been slow and costly, the Trump administration has responded positively to the developments. In two separate statements on Tuesday, the White House announced that Ukraine and Russia had agreed to "ensure safe navigation, eliminate the use of force, and prevent the use of commercial vessels for military purposes in the Black Sea."
President Zelensky stated that the agreement would take effect "immediately." However, the Kremlin disputed this, insisting that the truce depends on the lifting of sanctions. One of Russia’s key demands is the removal of restrictions on the Russian Agricultural Bank and other financial institutions involved in global food trade. Moscow also seeks re-entry into the SWIFT international payment system.
Following the start of the war in March 2022, many Russian banks were disconnected from SWIFT, including seven of the country’s largest institutions. In May 2022, Russia’s biggest lender, Sberbank, was also cut off in the sixth round of sanctions.
With peace talks still in a fragile state, Turkey—one of the few neutral nations maintaining ties with both Russia and Ukraine—has been tasked with monitoring the Black Sea situation at Moscow’s suggestion.
A previous UN-brokered agreement allowed millions of tons of Ukrainian grain and food exports to be shipped safely, but Russia had long complained that the deal did not benefit its trade.
Now, with the ceasefire tentatively in place, Zelensky has warned that any movement of Russian warships into the eastern Black Sea would be considered a violation of the agreement.
"If the Russians violate this, then I have a direct question for President Trump," Zelensky said on Tuesday. "If they violate, here is the evidence—we ask for sanctions, we ask for weapons."
Despite the deal's fragility, Zelensky defended his decision to proceed, telling reporters in Kyiv, "It is too early to say whether it will hold, but these were the right meetings, the right decisions, the right steps."
"No one can accuse Ukraine of not striving for sustainable peace after this," he added.
Meanwhile, Nico Lange of the Center for European Policy Analysis noted, "Russia had already been defeated in the western Black Sea, and Ukraine had successfully fought to open up trade routes from Odesa."
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