Russia is asking Washington to order Ukraine to reach an agreement on non-interference in the navigation of merchant ships in the Black Sea, and is also demanding the lifting of restrictions on trade in Russian grain and fertilizer.
"We would need clear guarantees... Such guarantees can only be the result of Washington's orders to (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, according to Russian media.
He said Moscow is also seeking to no longer be "excluded" from the world trade in fertilizer and grain.
Lavrov said the topic was at the center of Russian-American talks on Monday in Saudi Arabia.
These talks, according to Agence France-Presse, did not lead to any agreement, not even on a limited ceasefire to allow commercial navigation in the Black Sea.
The Russian side is in favor of renewing the Black Sea Initiative, but in a form acceptable to all parties, Lavrov said, according to the TASS news agency.
"As President (Vladimir) Putin said, we are in favor of continuing the Black Sea initiative in some form - acceptable to all," Lavrov said, referring to the agreement that Russia withdrew from in 2023 and which allowed Ukraine to export agricultural products by ship.
Lavrov said that this issue was discussed as a priority at the talks between the Russian and American delegations on a possible ceasefire in the war in Ukraine, held yesterday in Riyadh.
He also said that his country had sought the lifting of restrictions on Russian exports during those 12-hour Russian-American talks.
"We now need to establish the clearest and most concrete mechanisms that can be best verified and are most realistic," he said.
"We want the grain market, the fertilizer market to be predictable, we want no one to try to distance us from that market anymore," Lavrov said.
Russia is under extensive trade sanctions imposed by the West and its allies due to Russia's aggression against Ukraine that began in February 2022.
The Russian-American and US-Ukrainian talks in Riyadh were initiated by US President Donald Trump, who is trying to end the war. He has at times embraced the Kremlin's rhetoric and put pressure on Ukraine, but has so far refrained from criticizing Russia.
Lavrov and representatives of his ministry were not at the talks in Riyadh, where Russia was represented by a delegation led by a senator and an intelligence representative.
It was announced that a joint statement would be issued today, but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the results of the talks would not be made public because the two delegations had held "technical consultations" in Riyadh and sent reports only to their leaders.
Russian negotiator Grigori Karasin described the talks as useful. He told TASS that it was an intense dialogue, that it was not easy, but that it was useful for both the Russians and the Americans, who will continue to work.
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