Russia and the US hold talks in the Saudi capital as they aim to make progress towards peace in Ukraine, a day after US-Ukraine talks.
Negotiators from the United States and Russia have started talks in Saudi Arabia as they aim to make progress towards a broad ceasefire in Ukraine, with the resumption of the Black Sea grain deal and a continued pause in attacks against energy and civilian infrastructure high on the agenda.
The peace talks are being held in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, a day after negotiations between the US and Ukrainian delegations as part of President Donald Trump’s push to end the more than three years of war between Ukraine and Russia.
Russia’s team is headed by Sergei Beseda, a veteran of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), and diplomat Grigory Karasin who has previously been deputy foreign minister and ambassador to the UK.
The US Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, who has also been leading the Russia-Ukraine negotiations, voiced optimism that talks could pave the way for a “full-on” ceasefire.
“I think you’re going to see in Saudi Arabia on Monday some real progress, particularly as it affects a Black Sea ceasefire on ships between both countries. And from that you’ll naturally gravitate to a full-on shooting ceasefire,” he told Fox News on Sunday.
But the Kremlin has downplayed expectations. “We are only at the beginning of this path,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state TV on Sunday. “There are difficult negotiations ahead.”
The latest round of talks comes amid heightened diplomatic efforts by the Trump administration to broker a peace deal.
So what was discussed between the US and Ukraine, and what is on the table for the US-Russia talks?
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday in his nightly video address that the two delegations were working and the conversation was “quite useful”.
“But no matter what we say to our partners today, we need to get [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to give a real order to stop the strikes. Whoever brought this war must take it back.”
On the eve of the latest round of talks that began on Sunday, Russia carried out attacks across Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, killing seven people. Also on Sunday, Ukrainian state railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia came under a “massive targeted cyber attack” on its online services.
What did the US and Ukraine discuss?
The US-Russia talks began at about 10:30am (07:30 GMT) on Monday, according to the Russian state news agency TASS.
Here is what is expected to be on the agenda of the talks:
“On Monday, we mainly intend to discuss President Putin’s agreement to resume the so-called Black Sea initiative, and our negotiators will be ready to discuss the nuances around this problem,” Peskov said.
Moscow pulled out of the deal – brokered by Turkiye and the United Nations – in 2023, accusing the West of failing to lift sanctions on Russia’s exports of farm produce and fertilisers.
Last week, Putin and Zelenskyy agreed to a 30-day limited ceasefire, pledging not to attack energy infrastructure in each other’s territories after separate phone calls with Trump. However, the US president was unable to get Putin to agree to a complete 30-day ceasefire, including a cessation of hostilities in the Black Sea.
Trump’s calls came a week after Washington and Kyiv announced “an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire”. “The ball is now in Russia’s court,” Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, posted on X after meeting with the Ukrainian delegation on March 11 in Riyadh.
However, since the March 18 agreement, Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of attacks on energy sites.
Discussions about energy infrastructure will likely surface in Monday’s discussions.
Putin has previously said while Russia supported the idea of a complete ceasefire, there were some issues that needed to be ironed out with the US.
One of the questions Putin raised was about how the ceasefire would be monitored. The Russian president said during a news conference on March 13: “Who will give orders to stop hostilities? … Who will determine where and who has violated a possible ceasefire agreement for 2,000km [1,243 miles]?”
The Russian leader has also demanded a halt of arms supplies to Kyiv and a suspension of Ukraine’s military mobilisation.
NSA Waltz hinted that the two sides plan to iron out these technicalities during their meeting on Monday.
“We’ll talk the line of control, which is the actual front lines, and that gets into the details of verification mechanisms, peacekeeping, you know, freezing the lines where they are,” he told CBS.
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