U.S. Sees Growing Interest in a Limited Black Sea Ceasefire for Grain and Energy Shipments
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday the U.S. is reviewing Turkish and Indian proposals to get Black Sea grain moving again — a shipping question with food and fuel prices attached to it far beyond the war.
The United States is reviewing proposals from Turkey and India for a limited ceasefire in the Black Sea, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Saturday — a narrow truce aimed not at ending the war between Russia and Ukraine, but at getting grain and energy shipments moving through one of the world's most important food corridors.
Rubio told a news conference there was growing interest in the international community in facilitating the limited ceasefire so that shipments by both Russia and Ukraine can move unfettered. The Black Sea is the export route for Ukrainian grain and a major artery for energy; when it closes or slows, the effects surface in food and fuel prices on other continents, including in the United States.
Rubio was plain about the limits of the idea, as Reuters reported his remarks: the situation threatens world food security and some energy security as well, and a limited ceasefire would not solve the war — but it would, he said, solve a unique aspect of it. No agreement was announced Saturday; what changed is that Washington is now publicly reviewing concrete proposals from two governments to try.
