Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on Wednesday that Kyiv was ready for a maritime truce in the Black Sea based on proposals put forward by Egypt, India and Türkiye, stressing that his country was awaiting Russia’s response to the proposed steps to restore the security of commercial shipping and ease tensions.
Zelensky made the remarks to the leaders of the countries taking part in the Crimea Platform summit, held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly’s annual meeting and before a Security Council meeting devoted to discussing the war in Ukraine, which has entered its fifth year.
Egyptian, Indian and Turkish proposals for shipping
The Ukrainian president said Egypt, India and Türkiye had identified options for restoring the safety of commercial vessels in the Black Sea, where shipping had almost completely halted as a result of intensive attacks by both sides on vessels and port infrastructure. Zelensky added: “We are awaiting Russia’s response. Ukraine is ready…
to ensure shipping security and food security in the Black Sea if Russia is also ready to take genuine steps towards easing tensions. We have to start somewhere.” Ukraine is pushing for a ceasefire covering attacks on energy infrastructure, alongside securing maritime traffic in the Black Sea.
Kyiv’s concerns over energy and wheat supplies
Kyiv fears that Russia may be planning to bomb Ukrainian energy and heating facilities with missiles and drones during the winter. Safe navigation in the Black Sea is important to major wheat-importing countries in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, which rely on supplies from the region.
These countries are facing difficulties securing their needs amid a sharp rise in global wheat prices caused by disruption to shipping. Zelensky met US President Donald Trump on Tuesday and said their talks had also addressed halting attacks on energy facilities. In a parallel diplomatic track, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, on Wednesday.
Rubio told reporters after the meeting that Russia and Ukraine had expressed interest in a limited ceasefire covering grain and energy. But the Kremlin has not publicly endorsed these proposals, and before the ministers’ meeting it had said there were no grounds for moving to broader peace talks on Ukraine, while stressing that the door to negotiations remained open.
At present, there are no preconditions for moving to a peaceful negotiation process, although we, the Russian side, remain open to peace talks
