Last week, U.S. and Russian officials held marathon talks in Saudi capital Riyadh with the aim of reaching a cease-fire deal between Russia and Ukraine in the Black Sea.
After the talks, the White House appeared to signal its readiness to lift certain restrictions on Russian agriculture and fertilizer exports—a long-standing Russian demand—as part of a Black Sea cease-fire deal.
“It seems pretty clear that the U.S. administration is exploring ways to offer Russia sanctions relief as part of some sort of agreement to end Russia’s war on Ukraine,” Matthew Bryza, a former White House and senior State Department official, told The Epoch Times.
It also said the United States would “help restore Russia’s access to the world market for agricultural and fertilizer exports, lower maritime insurance costs, and enhance access to ports and payment systems for such transactions.”
But unlike the U.S. statement, the Kremlin said the two sides had agreed to “provide for the implementation of the Black Sea Initiative.”
The now-defunct Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSGI), which had allowed Ukraine to export grain through the Black Sea, was initially brokered by the United Nations and Turkey in the summer of 2022.
“Unfortunately, the part of the agreement that concerns Russia has not yet been fulfilled,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said when the agreement expired on July 17, 2023.
“As a result, it has been terminated.”
During the one year that the deal had remained in effect, Ukraine was able to export tens of millions of tons of grain—despite ongoing hostilities with Russia—through the Black Sea to international buyers.
From the outset, however, Moscow had complained that a second part of the deal—in the form of a Russia–U.N. memorandum of understanding—was not being properly implemented.
But while the BSGI had remained in effect, Moscow repeatedly accused Brussels and Washington of continuing to impede its agricultural exports in alleged violation of the deal’s terms.
In its March 25 statement, the Kremlin said the sought-for Black Sea truce would materialize only if restrictions were lifted from the Russian Agricultural Bank “and other financial institutions involved in ensuring international food trade ... and fertilizers, [the institutions’] reconnection to SWIFT, and opening of relevant correspondent accounts.”
It also demanded “the removal of restrictions imposed on trade finance operations [and] the removal of sanctions imposed on [Russian] companies producing and exporting food ... and fertilizers.”
The Kremlin further called for the lifting of sanctions on Russian-flagged ships bearing food and fertilizer and for allowing Russia to import agricultural equipment.
“This time, justice should be met,” he told reporters on March 26.
“We will continue our work with the Americans,” Peskov said.
On the same day, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington would “evaluate” Moscow’s demands.
“After our meeting [in Riyadh] ... the Russians detailed a number of conditions that they want to see met. ... so we’re going to evaluate that,” Rubio told reporters.
He said U.S. officials sought to “more fully understand what the Russian position is, or what they’re asking in exchange” and then would present that information to U.S. President Donald Trump.
According to Bryza, the United States now appears to support “the facilitation of Russian exports from the Black Sea, especially of fertilizers and grain.”
“That could include the removal of sanctions from Russia’s agricultural bank,” said Bryza, who sits on the board of the Jamestown Foundation, a Washington-based think tank devoted to defense policy issues.
Europe Digs In
Responding to the Russian conditions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Moscow of tacking additional demands for sanctions relief onto the prospective cease-fire deal.“They are posing conditions on sanctions to the American side,” he told reporters in Paris on March 26, voicing hope that U.S. negotiators would “stand strong” against the Russian demands.
“We have shown our resilience. It is very important for our partners to be at least as resilient as we are.”
“The ... 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,” Anitta Hipper, European Union spokeswoman for foreign affairs and security policy, said in a statement.
But this remains a nonstarter for Moscow, which effectively annexed four regions of eastern Ukraine in 2022 and now regards them as Russian Federation territory.
“Now is not the time for lifting of sanctions,” Starmer said after meeting European leaders in Paris.
“Quite the contrary.”
“[There is] no way to resolve the impasse between Russia demanding sanctions relief. ... and the EU refusing to offer sanctions relief unless Russia fully withdraws its forces from Ukraine,” Bryza said.
“[Russian President Vladimir Putin] is trying to squeeze as much out of the United States as possible, while also trying to exploit the split between Washington and its European allies.
“I don’t believe President Putin wants to stop the fighting. He has made clear that he has not softened the demands that he articulated even before invading Ukraine.”
Halil Akinci, a former Turkish ambassador to Russia, said the U.S. administration—if it decides to lift sanctions on Russia—is unlikely to take Europe’s objections into account.
“Trump doesn’t need to persuade the Europeans. He doesn’t play by the rules,” Akinci told The Epoch Times. “If he’s able to do it, he’ll do it.
“Besides, America holds the key to the SWIFT payment system, which is enough to remove many of the sanctions.”
Although Turkey originally helped broker the BSGI in 2022, it is not playing a similar role this time around, he said.
“Turkey is very busy right now,” Akinci said, referring to ongoing protests that began after Istanbul’s opposition-affiliated mayor was detained by Turkish authorities on March 19.
