1 minutes ago:Russia and Ukraine agree Black Sea ceasefire, but Zelensky says Russia is lying about terms…see more details.

1 minutes ago:Russia and Ukraine agree Black Sea ceasefire, but Zelensky says Russia is lying about terms…see more details.

After weeks of high-level talks punctuated by frequent stops and starts, Russia and Ukraine have given the strongest signal yet they are willing to lay down arms – even if only in part.

The White House says it has brokered an agreement between the two countries to halt military activity over the Black Sea after its officials met separately with counterparts from Moscow and Kyiv in Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh.

It’s a different deal to the more ambitious one touted only weeks earlier, as BBC diplomatic correspondent James Landale points out, when the US and Ukraine held talks in Jeddah.

The new agreement is fraught with complications, including Russia’s list of conditions. The Kremlin said it won’t commit until sanctions are lifted and membership to the Swift payment network is reinstated, demands Trump says he is considering. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of lying about the terms of the agreement.

There are other worries about how durable the deal could be. Russia has broken agreements in the past, and the White House has given little indication it’s negotiating in Ukraine’s interest alone. Ukraine says the movement of Russian warships westward will be treated as a violation of terms.

Even so, Zelensky is showing cautious optimism, telling reporters the deal represents “the right steps” towards peace.

As BBC security correspondent Frank Gardner writes, there is a temptation by both camps to keep fighting, but for now it’s the best chance they’ve got to lay groundwork for a wider ceasefire

We’ve just been hearing from US President Donald Trump who has been meeting US ambassadors at the White House.

He’s asked by a reporter about the sanctions Russia says need to be lifted by the US before it implements the Black Sea deal.

“We’re thinking about all of them right now,” Trump tells reporters. “We’re looking at all of them.”

Russia says sanctions need to be lifted on banks involved in international trade in food and fertilisers, as well as being fully reconnected to Swift – a network that facilitates secure financial messaging.

Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Moscow of lying about the terms agreed with American negotiators.