Ceasefire in Black Sea is not revival of Grain Initiative – Ukraine's Foreign Ministry

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has stated that the temporary ceasefire in the Black Sea is not a resumption of the Black Sea Grain Initiative and only applies to ports on the region's rivers.

Source: Heorhii Tykhyi, spokesperson of Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, at a briefing on 27 March, as reported by Ukrinform and Suspilne

Details: Tykhyi said the ceasefire agreement in the Black Sea prohibits attacks on civilian shipping vessels and all ports. However, this agreement does not apply to Russian military vessels.

Quote: "The movement of Russian military vessels beyond the eastern part of the Black Sea will be considered a violation of these agreements, a breach of commitments to ensure free shipping in the Black Sea and a threat to Ukraine's national security. Ukraine will have full rights to defend itself if it happens."

Details: Tykhyi also responded to Russian manipulations attempting to present the ceasefire agreement in the Black Sea as a revival of the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

Quote: "This is not what has been discussed. No such agreement has been reached. Once again, as you know, Ukraine has independently ensured maritime transit for a long time now. Thanks to the fact that the defence forces have managed to push the Russian fleet away from our commercial routes, Ukraine has long been ensuring shipping on its own."

Details: Tykhyi also emphasised that the Kremlin's claim that an embargo on attacks on energy facilities has supposedly been in effect since 18 March is false.

Background: 

• Russia has put forward a list of demands as conditions for agreeing to a ceasefire in the Black Sea, which was the subject of a meeting between representatives of Russia, the United States and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia on 23-25 March.
• US President Donald Trump stated that the American side would consider Russia's demands for agreeing to a ceasefire in the Black Sea.

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