Russia conditions Black Sea truce with annulment of sanctions
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Russia affirms that the Black Sea deal would only take effect if certain sanctions imposed on its entities were lifted.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin points during a meeting with foreign policy experts at the Valdai Discussion Club in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024 (AP)
Russia announced on Tuesday that a US-mediated deal to halt military activity in the Black Sea would only take effect if certain sanctions were lifted, particularly those targeting its state-owned agricultural bank.
Earlier, the White House announced that both Russia and Ukraine had agreed to cease hostilities in the Black Sea following separate talks in Saudi Arabia. However, Washington made no mention of lifting sanctions, instead emphasizing efforts to restore "access to the world market" for Russian agricultural and fertilizer exports.
The Kremlin, however, insisted that the ceasefire would only be implemented once restrictions on Rosselkhozbank and other financial institutions involved in global food and fertilizer trade were removed. It also called for these banks to be reconnected to SWIFT, the international payment network from which several Russian banks have been excluded due to Western sanctions.
Although Western governments have not directly sanctioned Russian agriculture, Moscow has long argued that restrictions on shipping insurance and financial transactions have obstructed its exports.
Additionally, the Kremlin said it had reached an understanding with the US on the logistics of a 30-day energy ceasefire announced by President Vladimir Putin last week.
"Russia and the US agreed to develop measures to implement the agreements of the presidents of the two countries to ban strikes on Russian and Ukrainian energy facilities," the Kremlin stated.
Russia also expressed willingness to allow third-party countries to oversee aspects of any future ceasefire. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky suggested that nations such as Turkiye could play a monitoring role.
US-Russia talks on Ukraine 'useful', to continue
Earlier today, a Russian negotiator stated that Russia would continue its "useful" discussions with the United States regarding the Ukraine conflict, with plans to involve the United Nations and other nations in future talks.
"We talked about everything, it was an intense dialogue, not easy, but very useful for us and the Americans," Grigory Karasin, told the state TASS news agency, noting that "lots of problems were discussed."
"Of course we are far from solving everything, from being in agreement on all points, but it seems that this type of discussion is very timely," he pointed out.
"We will continue doing it, adding in the international community, above all the United Nations and certain countries," Karasin said.
He added, "In general, the impression was of a constructive dialogue, which is needed and necessary. The Americans are also interested in this."
His remarks followed 12 hours of negotiations between US and Russian delegations in Saudi Arabia.
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