Ukraine and Russia agree to Black Sea ceasefire, US says

Both Ukraine and Russia support a proposed ceasefire in the Black Sea, the US has announced.

In two statements released on Tuesday, the White House said that Kyiv and Moscow "have agreed to ensure safe navigation, eliminate the use of force and prevent the use of commercial vessels for military purposes in the Black Sea".

The development comes after three days of talks between the US and the two adversaries in the Saudi Arabian capital Riyadh.

The meetings did not involve any direct talks between Ukrainian and Russian officials.

In its readouts, the White House confirmed that both countries also agreed to "develop measures" to "ban strikes against energy facilities".

The Trump administration went on to reiterate that "the killing on both sides ... must stop".

Rustem Umerov, Ukraine's defence minister, took to X on Tuesday afternoon to clarify Kyiv's position on the Black Sea.

"The Ukrainian side emphasises that all movement by Russia of its military vessels outside of the eastern part of the Black Sea will constitute violation of the spirit of this agreement, will be regarded as violation of the commitment to ensure safe navigation of the Black Sea and threat to the national security of Ukraine," he wrote.

"In this case Ukraine will have full right to exercise right to self-defence," he added.

His comments came after senior Russian politician Grigory Karasin, who took part in the talks, told Russian state-run news agency RIA Novosti that the conversation in Saudi Arabia had been "very interesting, difficult, but quite constructive."

"We were at it all day from morning until late at night," Karasin was quoted by the agency as saying on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, questions have appeared over the significance of Tuesday's deal.