Ukraine and Russia: Accusations of Breaking Truce Agreements

Ukraine and Russia accused one another on Wednesday of flouting a truce on energy strikes brokered by the United States, and conditions set by Russia cast doubt over a planned ceasefire in the Black Sea.

The United States announced separate agreements with Ukraine and Russia on Tuesday to pause their strikes in the Black Sea and against each other's energy targets, but the rhetoric from Moscow and Kyiv suggested they remained far apart.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the U.S. side told Kyiv the deals were effective as soon as they were announced. But the Kremlin said the Black Sea one would not enter force until a sanctioned Russian state bank was reconnected to the international payment system, a step that Europe said would not happen until a Russian withdrawal from Ukraine.

The Kremlin meanwhile contends it has already been implementing a pause on energy attacks since March 18, though a senior Ukrainian presidential official said Russia had attacked eight Ukrainian energy facilities since that date.

On paper, the agreements are a tangible step towards a ceasefire after Russia launched its 2022 invasion, unleashing the biggest conflict in Europe since World War Two that rages on along a 1,000-km