The US will negotiate with Russia about a “grain corridor” in the Black Sea

Officials of the USA and Russia today, March 24, 2025, are starting negotiations in Saudi Arabia aimed at achieving progress on the path to a large-scale ceasefire in Ukraine, in particular in the Black Sea.

As Reuters reports with reference to sources, the American side is headed by the senior director of the National Security Council of the White House, Andrew Peake, and the high-ranking official of the State Department, Michael Anton.

The White House declares that the goal of the negotiations is to achieve a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, which will allow the free movement of ships.

Russia will be represented by a former diplomat, now the head of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Federation Council Hryhory Karasyn and adviser to the director of the FSB, Sergey Beseda.

Kremlin press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on March 23 that the upcoming negotiations between Russia and the USA in Saudi Arabia regarding the possible restoration of the Black Sea grain initiative will be “difficult”, writes Anadolu. He stated that the Russian Federation seeks to discuss the consent of President Vladimir Putin to renew the initiative and is ready to talk about the nuances of this issue.

“And there are a huge number of these nuances. Earlier, when Mr. (UN Secretary General) Guterres was the guarantor of the Black Sea Agreement, we fulfilled all our obligations, but the obligations before us were not fulfilled. Therefore, difficult negotiations are ahead,” said Peskov.

Earlier, the spokesman of the Naval Forces (Navy) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (ASU) Dmytro Pletenchuk said on the air of the FREEDOM TV channel that the “grain corridor” in the Black Sea could become the subject of the conversation about the 30-day ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia.

He noted that the truce at sea is important for Ukraine from the point of view of the port infrastructure, which is regularly shelled by Russian troops.

“Actually, the waters of the Black Sea are under the cover of the Defense Forces of Ukraine. That is, we are in a more favorable position than the Russians. However, the occupiers obstruct civilian shipping in the Black Sea, so the ceasefire regime at sea is important in this context. For us, peace is also the cessation of shelling of our port infrastructure,” said Pletenchuk.

Tags: Russia, Black Sea region, USA, Black Sea grain corridor, Ukrain