Putin uses ceasefire as trade leverage.

Vladimir Putin has refused to implement a ceasefire deal in the Black Sea unless Donald Trump secures the lifting of international sanctions on Russia. Russia demanded access to global food and fertiliser markets, and its reintegration into international banking systems, as its price for a maritime truce with Ukraine. The White House announced the Black Sea ceasefire yesterday after 12 hours of talks between Russia and the US in Saudi Arabia the day before. Shortly after the White House announcement, Moscow warned the deal would only come into force after the lifting of sanctions that had helped to isolate the Kremlin in the wake of the invasion