A maritime ceasefire, but still not what the US originally wantedpublished at 16:40 Greenwich Mean Time 25 March
James Landale
Diplomatic correspondent in Kyiv
We’ve
now got two statements: one between the US and Russia, one between the US and
Ukraine.
They
are similar in parts – not identical – but the key line is that both sides have
agreed an effective maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea.
The
US, Russia and Ukraine “have agreed to ensure safe navigation, eliminate the
use of force, and prevent the use of commercial vessels for military purposes
in the Black Sea”, the statement says.
For
the first time we have actual commitments from both Ukraine and Russia to end
the fighting in the Black Sea. It hasn’t been the centre of the conflict for
quite some time, but it is definitely a step forward.
The
Russians have clearly agreed to do it – the quid pro quo is that they are going
to get help from the US to allow their agricultural and fertiliser products to
get to the international market.
In other words, they are seeing it as a
revival of the old Black Sea Grain Initiative that they pulled out of back
in 2023.
In
terms of the Ukrainians, the agreement that they’ve got is that the US will
“remain committed to helping achieve the exchange of prisoners of war, the
release of civilian detainees and the return of forcibly transferred Ukrainian
children”.
Both
sides have now also agreed to “develop measures for implementing a ban on
strikes against energy facilities in Russia and Ukraine”. In other words,
they’re going to try and do it but we don’t know yet whether they will succeed
in doing so.
In
summary, some progress has been made, but it’s still not the comprehensive
ceasefire the US originally wanted.
