WASHINGTON, March 26. /TASS/. The United States chose to start consultations on resolving the Ukraine crisis by discussing a Black Sea ceasefire because it was the easiest part, US Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg said.
"Well, the reason you start there is because it's low hanging fruit. It's probably the easiest one to get to, because the other ones are really going to be hard, because we’re talking territory," he told Fox News.
"So this was an easy hit to get to, and I think they did it. And so we're gonna have to kind of back off and say, ‘Okay, now what are the next steps we want to go to?’ Because where we want to get to is basically a comprehensive ceasefire," Kellogg noted.
"I think it's a positive first step. It'll get us to the next step, which eventually gets to what I believe to be a comprehensive ceasefire," he concluded.
On Tuesday, the Kremlin released a statement following expert consultations with Washington. The parties agreed to implement the Black Sea Initiative, which includes the need to ensure safe navigation. The US is supposed to help Russia restore access to the global market of agricultural products and fertilizers. The Russia-US agreements on the Black Sea will take effect once sanctions on Rosselkhozbank (Russian Agricultural Bank) and other financial institutions involved in agricultural exports are lifted. There are also a number of other conditions.