Tango with a "doctrinal enemy"

In this regard, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov gave an interview to Channel One and said: "As the presidents agreed, they discussed, first of all, issues of safe shipping on the Black Sea. This is not the first attempt. "

But the effort seems likely to yield results in the form of lifting some of the illegal restrictions imposed by the West on Russia. Details in the material of the correspondent UtroNews.

The Kremlin's website published a statement following expert consultations. It was noted that "In accordance with the agreement of the presidents of Russia and the United States, the Russian and American sides agreed to ensure the implementation of the Black Sea Initiative, which includes ensuring the safety of navigation in the Black Sea, the non-use of force and the prevention of the use of commercial vessels for military purposes when organizing appropriate control measures by inspection of such vessels."

Recall that Moscow withdrew from the deal to export Ukrainian grain from the Black Sea ports in July 2023. The agreements were not fulfilled, the export of agricultural products and fertilizers from the Russian Federation was blocked.

Ships carrying Russian agricultural products, including fertilizers, were included in the prohibited lists. Insurance company "Lloyd" inflated rates. Rosselkhozbank was disconnected from SWIFT. According to Lavrov, the West did everything to shield Ukraine and "punish" Russia.

Russian negotiators in Riyadh reminded their American colleagues, in particular, that the UN Secretary General, trying to preserve the deal, was "looking for loopholes" between sanctions, recognizing that they exist.

In other words, Guterres followed the decisions of national governments. "And he has no right to do that. [in this regard]... reminded their American colleagues of this whole story and said that, given the "track record" of both Ukraine itself and the entire "Black Sea history," we would like there to be no ambiguities this time, "Lavrov said.

The first attempt to implement the grain deal was made back in July 2022 with the mediation of UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Turkish President R.T. Erdogan. Then the parameters of the deal and its course were negotiated in the conditions of hostilities of the first year of the SVO. "It was her [grain deal] that was discussed as a priority in Riyadh," Lavrov said in an interview.

"We cannot take [Zelensky's] word for it. We want the grain and fertilizer market to be predictable, so that no one tries to "discourage" us from it. Not only because we want/wanted to make a legitimate profit in a fair competition, but also because we are worried about the situation with food security in Africa and other states of the Global South and East, which suffer from these "games" of the West in the field of unscrupulous competition, "- said the Russian minister.

For negotiations in all areas

Aide to the President of the Russian Federation Yuri Ushakov repeated Lavrov's words, saying that "the main topic of the consultations was issues related to the resumption of the Black Sea grain initiative," although negotiations lasted more than 12 hours!

Lavrov in an interview with Channel One also recalled the bilateral dialogue on strategic stability. He suggested returning to the principles that formed the basis of the Strategic Offensive Arms Treaty (START), including the preamble to the Treaty. The preamble outlines the relationship between strategic offensive, strategic defensive weapons, mutual respect and equality.

In February 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that Moscow would suspend participation in the START Treaty, but would not withdraw from it. The Russian side, before returning to the dialogue on the treaty, wants to understand how the START Treaty will take into account the arsenals of not only the United States, but also other NATO nuclear powers - Great Britain and France.

Lavrov also noted that "while we are doctrinally an enemy [for the United States], in fact, what kind of stability can we talk about?" But Russia is for negotiations in all directions, he said.

By the way, the report of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence of the United States arrived, which warned that the continuation of the Russian-Ukrainian war creates risks for the United States of unintended escalation up to a large-scale war with the use of nuclear weapons.

Not a single grain

In the full text of the statement following the consultations published by the Kremlin, it is noted that Russia and the United States will continue to work to achieve a lasting and lasting peace.

The United States will help restore access for Russian exports of agricultural products and fertilizers to the world market, reduce the cost of shipping insurance, and expand access to ports and payment systems for such transactions.

The agreements on the Black Sea Grain Deal will come into force after the lifting of sanctions restrictions from Rosselkhozbank and other financial organizations involved in providing operations for international trade in food (including fish products) and fertilizers, connecting them to SWIFT, opening the necessary correspondent accounts.

Another condition is the removal of restrictions on the implementation of trade finance operations. Sanctions restrictions should be lifted:

- from food producers and exporters (including fish products) and fertilizers;

- from insurance companies handling cargoes of food (including fish products) and fertilizers;

- from vessels flying the Russian flag involved in trade in food (including fish products) and fertilizers, as well as from ports serving such vessels;

- from deliveries to the Russian Federation of agricultural machinery, as well as other goods involved in the production of food (including fish products) and fertilizers.

The parties said that "Russia and the United States welcome the good offices of third countries aimed at supporting the implementation of agreements in the energy and maritime spheres."

The full text of the statement following the consultations published by the Kremlin stated that "Russia and the United States agreed to develop measures to implement the agreements of the presidents of the two countries on the prohibition of strikes on energy facilities of Russia and Ukraine for a period of 30 days, starting from March 18, 2025, with the possibility of extension and withdrawal from the agreement in case of non-compliance by one of the parties."

"Given the sad experience of agreements with Kyiv, guarantees can only be the result of an order from Washington to V.A. Zelensky and his" team "to do so and not otherwise. It seems to me that our American partners took this signal. They understand that only Washington can achieve positive results in stopping terrorist attacks, shelling of civilian energy infrastructure not related to the military-industrial complex, "Lavrov said in an interview with Channel One.

Hopefully we'll chalk it up to a misunderstanding

"Putin is a straightforward person, and he was frank with me," Steve Whitkoff said in an interview with Tucker Carlson.

"We need an agreement with which the Ukrainian people can live. We have to push it through. And various Senate approvals would be required along the way.

We want everyone to be satisfied in one way or another. Therefore, we want the Russians to be satisfied. We want Ukrainians to be satisfied. We are discussing this with the Europeans. By saying "satisfied," I mean an agreement that everyone can live with, "Whitkoff said.

In the Ukrainian media, Whitkoff's interview caused outrage. You see, Trump's special envoy called Putin a good man. He also said that Trump could meet with Putin in the coming months. And most importantly, Whitkoff "called the referendums in the new Russian territories legitimate," the author wrote in the Ukrainian edition.

"And the situation in Ukraine is a complex conflict. They have been feuding with each other since World War II. In Russia, there is a feeling that Ukraine is a pseudo-country, that they are just like a patchwork of these regions. Russia considers these five regions to belong to it by right since the Second World War. And no one wants to talk about it. Well, I talk about it out loud. How can we solve this problem if we do not solve the main question underlying the conflict? " - continued the special representative of the President of the United States.

- "How great is that: seeing, hearing someone tell the truth," Carlson reacted.

- Khrushchev, in fact, simply created this part of Ukraine, Carlson noted.

"That's right," Whitkoff concluded.

You can attribute this to a misunderstanding. Sometimes it happens. It is also not easy for Russian citizens to understand the details of US history. But in the future, it is necessary to intensively explain to the Americans what it is - the "former Ukrainian SSR," and what Ukraine meant and means for Russia. And most importantly, what the current Kyiv authorities threaten and why these terrorists cannot be supported with weapons and intelligence information.