Doubts over a US-brokered truce between Ukraine and Russia in the Black Sea deepened on Wednesday, as the Kremlin insisted that some western sanctions must be lifted before it would implement the deal and the European Union said Moscow must end its invasion if it wanted economic restrictions to be eased.
Uncertainty over the Black Sea deal, which Ukraine and Russia agreed separately with US negotiators on Tuesday, grew as the warring neighbours continued to trade drone strikes and accused each other of breaking an earlier US-mediated agreement to pause attacks on energy infrastructure.
“Regarding the Black Sea initiative, as the document published on our website states, it may be renewed after a number of conditions are fulfilled,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
A statement published by the Kremlin on Tuesday evening said the deal would only come into force if certain sanctions were removed from some Russian companies, ships and financial institutions involved in exporting food and fertilisers.
Russian forces expected to mount new offensive to strengthen hand at talks
Efforts to rearm Europe stumble as Trump ‘kicks over the chessboard’ of the Ukraine war
US ‘demanding all of Ukraine’s natural resources for years’
European leaders united in opposition to lifting sanctions on Russia as condition of ceasefire in Ukraine
“The United States will help restore access for Russian agricultural and fertiliser exports to the world market, reduce the cost of marine insurance, and expand access to ports and payment systems to conduct such transactions,” the Kremlin statement said.
However, the EU imposed many sanctions on Russia’s food and fertiliser firms, shipping companies and banks following its full invasion of Ukraine 2022, and there is no indication that the bloc is ready to lift them as part of the US deal with Moscow.
“The end of the Russian unprovoked and unjustified aggression in Ukraine and unconditional withdrawal of all Russian military forces from the entire territory of Ukraine would be one of the main preconditions to amend or lift sanctions,” said Anitta Hipper, an EU spokeswoman for foreign affairs and security policy.
“Russia must now demonstrate genuine political will to end its illegal and unprovoked war of aggression,” she added. “Experience has shown that Russia must be judged by its actions, not by its words.”
[ Ukraine and Russia agree to US-brokered truce in Black SeaOpens in new window ]
The situation could become another irritant in tense relations between EU capitals and US president Donald Trump, as he pushes for a quick end to Europe’s biggest war in 80 years and the Kremlin claims that it is now allied with the White House in seeking peace while Ukraine and Europe want fighting to continue.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Moscow was “lying again, claiming that the Black Sea ceasefire supposedly depends on sanctions” and condemned an overnight barrage of 117 Russian attack drones, 104 of which were intercepted.
“Last night, there were another 117 proofs in our skies of how Russia continues to drag out this war ... Everyone who was affected must be given assistance. But there must also be clear pressure and strong action from the world on Russia – more pressure, more sanctions from the United States – to stop Russian strikes,” he said.
“Launching such large-scale attacks after ceasefire negotiations is a clear signal to the whole world that Moscow is not going to pursue real peace,” he added.
Kyiv has welcomed Mr Trump’s proposal for a full ceasefire and wants him to shake off his apparent reluctance to put pressure on Russian president Vladimir Putin.
“I think that Russia wants to see an end to [the war], but it could be they’re dragging their feet. I’ve done it over the years,” Mr Trump told US television in comments aired on Tuesday night.
The Kremlin condemned the detention by Moldova’s anti-corruption investigators of Eugenia Gutul, a pro-Moscow regional leader in a country that says it is a target of persistent Russian attempts to undermine its democracy and efforts to integrate with the West.
