The United States says it has reached separate agreements with Ukraine and Russia to ensure safe navigation in the Black Sea and to implement a ban on attacks by the two countries on each other’s energy facilities.

If implemented, the agreements would represent the clearest progress yet towards a wider ceasefire that Washington sees a stepping stone towards peace talks to bring an end to Russia’s three-year-old war in Ukraine.

Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, however, said it could not trust Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, and it could therefore only sign a Black Sea deal if Washington issued an “order” to him to respect it.

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