It's a cease-fire - sort of. Russia and Ukraine have agreed to a cease-fire in the Black Sea after a round of mediation with the two warring nations and the United States. The agreement is contingent on a couple of things, not least of which is the removal of all Russian Navy assets from all but the eastern Black Sea. Not a total end to the Russo-Ukraine War, but at least it's a step towards an eventual cease-fire - we can hope.

Delegations from Russian and Ukraine on Tuesday agreed to a ceasefire in the Black Sea following talks with Trump administration officials this week in Saudi Arabia.

"The United States and Russia have agreed to ensure safe navigation, eliminate the use of force, and prevent the use of commercial vessels for military purposes in the Black Sea," the White House said in a statement following talks in Jeddah.

Similarly, just moments later, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who is leading the delegation confirmed that "All parties have agreed to ensure safe navigation, eliminate the use of force, and prevent the use of commercial vessels for military purposes in the Black Sea."

Safe navigation is certainly in Russia's interest, as the warm-water Black Sea port at Sevastapol is a shipping center for Russian goods. It's also a supply port and, since 2014, the headquarters for Russia's Black Sea Fleet. Part of this cease-fire deal requires the Russian warships to stay in the eastern portion of the Black Sea.

Though he also emphasized that "all movement by Russia of its military vessels outside of [the] eastern part of the Black Sea will constitute violation of the spirit of this agreement, will be regarded as violation of the commitment to ensure safe navigation of the Black Sea and threat to the national security of Ukraine."

"In this case, Ukraine will have full right to exercise [the] right to self-defense," he added in a readout following talks in Riyadh.

There's a catch, though - there's always a catch.

Though the Kremlin also reportedly suggested on Tuesday it may not be willing to fully enforce the ceasefire until it is admitted back into the SWIFT international banking system – calling into question the actual success of the talks. 

This could be a serious complication.

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In February of 2022, Russian banks were excluded from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) which puts a major damper on Russia's international trade. A 2022 story reports:

With the rapid escalation of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a large coalition of states, including the EU, U.S., Canada, and the UK, among others, agreed on February 26^th, 2022, to ban select Russian banks from the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (SWIFT) international payment messaging system. The move was the latest in a series of severe sanctions aimed at economically isolating Russia and crippling the Russian financial system in order to pressure the Putin regime to end its military operations in Ukraine.

As of this writing, it's unknown whether these nations would be amenable to allowing these Russian banks access to the SWIFT system.

This is a developing story. We will be watching and will bring you updates as events warrant.