Our Planet Climate and Geopolitics
Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a ceasefire in the Black Sea, a potential step towards a lasting peace but far short of the comprehensive agreement the US wanted.
The ceasefire is conditional, Moscow stresses, on the US restoring Russia’s access to the global market for agricultural and fertiliser experts, as well to ports and payment systems.
Which is to say some sanctions will need to be lifted.
What does Ukraine get in return? A US commitment to helping exchange prisoners of war, release civilian detainees and return forcibly transferred Ukrainian children.
The overall product of talks then is a reworking of a 2022 Black Sea initiative from which Russia withdrew the following year, along with an energy ceasefire that protects Ukrainian power plants but also puts Moscow’s crucial oil refineries out of harm’s way.
Not bad for Putin.
Photo credits: Maxym Marusenko/NurPhoto via Getty Images
