Russia binds the Black Sea Weapon to the Running of Some Sanctions

The Kremlin said on Tuesday that a US-broken agreement to stop military activity in the Black Sea would only come into force when certain sanctions were abolished, including those who targeted its state-owned agricultural lenders.

The White House earlier said that Russia and Ukraine had both agreed to “eliminate the use of force” in the Black Sea after separate conversations with the two sides of Saudi Arabia.

The US page did not mention to lift sanctions in its statement, only that it would help restore “access to the world market” for Russia’s agricultural and fertilizer exports.

Kremlin said the ceasefire would take effect after sanctions against Rosselkhozbank [Russia’s state-owned agricultural lender] and other financial institutions involved in the supply of international trade operations in food and fertilizer were lifted.

It also called for these institutions to be connected to the Swift Network, an international payment system that some Russian banks have been blocked to use.

The West has not directly sanctioned Russian agriculture, but Moscow has long complained that shipping insurance restrictions and its government lenders Rosselkhozbank – which provides funding for Agribusiness – has frustrated its export.