A serviceman of Ukraine’s coast guard mans a gun on a patrol boat in the Black Sea, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, February 7, 2024. REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Moscow has agreed to ensure safe navigation in the Black Sea, provided that Western sanctions are lifted against companies involved in food and fertilizer exports, the Kremlin said on Tuesday.
Russia and the United States have also agreed to develop measures to halt strikes on Russian and Ukrainian energy facilities for a period of 30 days that began on March 18, it added.
The Kremlin also confirmed that the U.S. agreed to help to restore Russia’s access to the world market for agricultural and fertilizer exports, but outlined a number of conditions.
It said implementation of both parts of the agreement would require Western sanctions on Russia's Rosselkhozbank, which services agriculture firms, to be lifted, and the bank's access to the SWIFT international messaging system restored.
Sanctions on Russian food and fertilizer exporters, insurance firms, servicing food and fertilizer shipments, restrictions on vessels and trade finance operations, would have to be lifted as well, it said.
(Reporting by Marina Bobrova and Maxim Rodionov; Writing by Gleb Bryanski, Editing by Hugh Lawson and Alison Williams)
