Russia reveals condition for launching naval ceasefire in Ukraine

Nga A2 CNN
2025-03-26 17:29:00 | Bota

Russia reveals condition for launching naval ceasefire in Ukraine

Russia has said that some Western sanctions must be lifted before a naval ceasefire with Ukraine can begin.

According to foreign media, within hours of the US announcing that the two sides had agreed to stop attacks in the Black Sea in separate agreements, the Kremlin said this would only happen after sanctions against a number of Russian banks were lifted.

The demands include revoking sanctions on the state-owned agricultural bank Rosselkhozbank and restoring firms' access to the international payments system Swift.

Overnight, Moscow launched a drone attack on the port city of Mykolaiv, Ukrainian officials said, with President Volodymyr Zelensky saying the attacks were "a clear signal" that Russia does not want peace.

Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EU and its allies suspended access to Swift for a number of Russian financial institutions.

The goal was for Russian companies to lose access to the normal smooth and instant transactions offered by Swift, cutting off payments for its valuable energy and agricultural exports.

Overturning this decision would require EU approval, a step that would seem uncertain in light of recent European statements of support for Kiev.

A European Commission spokesman said the withdrawal of all Russian forces from Ukraine would be one of the main conditions for lifting or amending any sanctions.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said that Russia may be trying to delay the end of the war.

"I think Russia wants to see an end to it, but it could be that they could even drag it out. I've done that over the years," he said in an interview with Newsmax.

The naval ceasefire was announced by the US after three days of peace talks in Saudi Arabia.

However, Kiev and Moscow later issued contradictory statements on the details of the agreement, including when and how it would begin.

Zelensky said he believed the agreement did not require sanctions relief to take effect and would enter into force immediately.

He called the Kremlin's statement an attempt to "manipulate" the agreements. (A2 Televizion)

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