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What is in the Black Sea ceasefire deal between Russia and Ukraine - and how significant is it?

A ceasefire will cover the Black Sea after the US held separate talks with Russia and Ukraine. But what are the details of the agreement?

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Black Sea ceasefire: Who benefits?
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Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a Black Sea ceasefire deal.

The agreement came after Ukraine and US delegations held talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.

But what is the Black Sea deal - and is it a full ceasefire?

Follow live: Kyiv and Moscow dispute Black Sea ceasefire details

What is in the Black Sea ceasefire deal?

These are the main aspects of the deal set out by the US:

• The US and Russia have agreed to safe navigation in the Black Sea, which had been a key focus of talks this week
• Additionally, they agreed to work together on measures banning strikes on energy infrastructure in Russia and Ukraine
• Washington will also help to restore Russia's access to global markets for agricultural and fertiliser exports, the White House said - although where this leaves Western sanctions against Russia is unclear at this stage.

The US also said it has agreed it will remain committed to returning forcibly transferred Ukrainian children.

Ukraine's defence minister Rustem Umerov confirmed the agreement, but added that Kyiv maintains any movement by Russian military vessels outside of eastern part of the Black Sea will constitute violation of the spirit of this agreement.

"In this case Ukraine will have full right to exercise right to self-defence," he said.

He added: "All parties agreed to develop measures for implementing the presidents' agreement to ban strikes against energy facilities of Ukraine and Russia."

Kirill Dmitriev, one of Russia's negotiators, welcomed it on X as "a major shift toward peace".

The Kremlin has confirmed that it has agreed to the ceasefire - but complications have already arisen.

Immediate disputes over ceasefire deal

Just hours after the ceasefire deal was announced, Volodymyr ZelenAG百家乐在线官网y and the Kremlin were at odds over the timing and conditions.

The Ukrainian president said he understood the ceasefire came into effect immediately upon the US announcement, but Moscow said it would only come into force after Western sanctions were lifted against companies involved in food and fertiliser exports.

The US had said it agreed to "help restore Russia's access to the world market for agricultural and fertiliser exports, lower maritime insurance costs, and enhance access to ports and payment systems for such transactions".

Donald Trump later said his administration was "looking into" Russian requests to lift sanctions.

The sanctions it wants lifted include those against:

  • Rosselkhozbank and other financial organisations involved in food and fertiliser trade
  • Their connection to the SWIFT payment system
  • Trade finance transactions
  • Companies producing and exporting food and fertilisers
  • Insurance companies handling food and fertilisers
  • Ships under the Russian flag involved in the trade
  • Agricultural machinery supply to Russia.

On Wednesday morning - the day after the agreement was reached - Ukraine reported downing seven Russian drones over the port city of Mykolaiv, while Russia said it had destroyed nine Ukrainian drones over the Black Sea - though it was not immediately clear whether they were aimed at Black Sea targets or just flying over the waters.

No deaths or injuries were reported by either country.

How significant is the ceasefire deal?

The deal won't do much to end the war, according to Sky News' security analyst Michael Clarke.

He says Russia will be quite happy dragging the US through peace talks without making any meaningful concessions.

The deal is one the US "can boast about" - without it changing much on the ground for Ukraine, he says.

"The Russians will be quite happy about that because they'll just keep going down more and more rabbit holes and they'll present little gains for the US," he explains.

"But they won't address the central issue," he says.

No real deal can be agreed unless Donald Trump starts putting meaningful pressure on Vladimir Putin, he says.

A Ukrainian patrol boat in the Black Sea in 2024. Pic: Reuters
Image: A Ukrainian patrol boat in the Black Sea in 2024. Pic: Reuters

"Unless the Americans are prepared to pressure Russia as opposed to just keeping offering them more advantages, the war will just go on."

He also says Mr Trump will stay interested until it "gets difficult", at which point he'll "just go onto something else".

"He's a disrupter, but when disruption becomes hard to follow through, he goes on to the next topic, and I think that's what will happen."

Why is Russia willing to agree to a ceasefire at sea now?

Under the ceasefire at sea, Russia would once again be able to export farm produce and fertiliser through the Black Sea, getting relief from sanctions imposed by Western countries.

The US even referred to helping Russia access the world market for agricultural products again.

According to Prof Clarke, Russia is happy to continue fighting on land, where it is slowly making gains, while signing up to something that protects its ships at sea - where Ukraine has been growing in confidence and damaging Russian vessels.

And it helps with Russia's goal of getting its equipment out of the Black Sea.

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Why is the Black Sea so important to Russia?

The agreement has come in the midst of negotiations between Russia, the US and Ukraine in Riyadh in recent days centred on the Black Sea.

But the basis of the negotiations was a deal to secure shipping there that collapsed more than 18 months ago.

That UN-backed deal was negotiated in July 2022 between Turkey, the UN and Russia as a way of ensuring that Ukraine, one of the breadbaskets of the world, could keep exporting grain via its southern ports without being attacked.

It was known as the Black Sea grain initiative.

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That deal benefited Russia, as it also allowed for greater Russian agricultural exports - but but Moscow pulled out of the initiative in July 2023 after accusing the West of reneging on this part of the agreement.

This meant Russia stopped granting safe passage to cargo ships going to and from Ukraine, and the country's grain exports subsequently slumped.

But Russia is now said to be keen to revive parts of the grain deal.

What happened the last time Ukraine and Russia had a ceasefire agreement?

Last week, Mr Putin agreed to an immediate 30-day pause in strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure.

However, within 24 hours Ukraine and Russia accused the other of breaking the pledge.