UKRAINE and Russia accused each other today of breaching a partial ceasefire agreement struck just the day before.
The United States brokered an agreement not to attack targets in the Black Sea, or each other’s energy facilities, during three days of negotiations with Ukrainian and Russian officials in Saudi Arabia.
But while Ukraine said it had been assured the deal was effective as soon as it was announced, Russia said it would only come into effect when sanctions on its state bank, preventing it from accessing the Swift international payment system, were removed. The European Union said this would not happen unless it withdraws entirely from Ukraine, potentially rendering the deal worthless.
Both Kiev and Moscow accused each other of launching attacks on civilian infrastructure overnight. Ukraine said Russia bombed one of its ports, while Russia said a gas storage facility in Crimea and energy infrastructure in Kursk and Bryansk was targeted. They denied each other’s accusations.
President Zelensky said Moscow was “manipulating, twisting agreements and lying” about the terms of the agreement.
Responding to the comments from Russia, the White House said it “will 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.”
When asked about when Washington might help Moscow achieve those ambitions, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today that contacts between Russia and the US “continue quite intensively.”
He added that Russia was “satisfied with how pragmatic, constructive and productive our dialogue is.”
Mr Peskov said the 2022 Black Sea grain initiative could be revived if Russia’s demands regarding agricultural and fertiliser exports are met.
He said they were the same demands that Russia initially put forward in the grain deal which hadn’t been fulfilled.
Mr Peskov also said President Putin’s order to pause strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure for 30 days, given on March 18 per an agreement with Trump, still stands and Russian forces are complying.
He accused Kiev of continuing to target Russia’s energy infrastructure but added “we still believe that this moratorium \[on strikes\] should be observed.”
Ukrainian officials have alleged multiple strikes against their energy sites since March 18.