US, Russia in Saudi talks on Ukraine ceasefire plan

RIYADH: American and Russian officials met in Saudi Arabia to discuss a partial ceasefire in Ukraine on Monday, a day after US-Ukraine talks there and as President Donald Trump pushes to quickly end the war.

The US and Russian teams huddled behind closed doors at a luxurious hotel in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, with a possible revival of a 2022 Black Sea ceasefire on the table.

The Ukrainian team, which held talks with United States officials in the same venue on Sunday, is expecting a second meeting with the Americans on Monday, a source in Kyiv told AFP, a sign that progress may have been made.

Trump is pressing for a rapid end to the three-year war and hopes the latest round of talks in Riyadh could pave the way for a breakthrough.

Earlier this month in Jeddah – days after President Volodymyr Zelensky’s White House dressing-down by Trump – Ukraine agreed to a US-proposed, 30-day ceasefire that was then rejected by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Officials are now studying a possible resumption of the Black Sea Initiative, a year-long agreement that allowed millions of tonnes of grain and other food exports to be shipped from Ukraine’s ports.

“The issue of the Black Sea Initiative and all aspects related to the renewal of this initiative is on the agenda today,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in his daily briefing.

“This was President Trump’s proposal and President Putin agreed to it. It was with this mandate that our delegation travelled to Riyadh.”

Ukraine, US teams to hold talks in Saudi Arabia to end war with Russia

The two sets of talks were originally planned to take place simultaneously to enable shuttle diplomacy, with the United States going back and forth between the delegations.

The US team is being led by Andrew Peek, a senior director at the White House National Security Council, and senior State Department official Michael Anton, a source familiar with the matter told AFP.

Ukraine’s Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, who heads the Ukrainian team, said the first round of talks that finished late on Sunday was “productive and focused”.

“We addressed key points including energy,” Umerov said on social media.

Trump envoy Steve Witkoff has voiced optimism that any agreement struck would 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.

‘Only at the beginning’

But the Kremlin has downplayed expectations of a rapid resolution.

“We are only at the beginning of this path,” Peskov told Russian state TV on Sunday, adding: “There are difficult negotiations ahead.”

Putin rebuffed the joint US-Ukrainian call for a full and immediate 30-day pause, proposing instead a halt in attacks on energy facilities.

Moscow pulled out of the Black Sea Initiative – brokered by Turkey and the United Nations – in 2023, accusing the West of failing to uphold its commitments to ease sanctions on Russia’s own exports of farm produce and fertilisers.

A senior Ukrainian official previously told AFP that Kyiv would propose a broader ceasefire, covering attacks on energy facilities, infrastructure and naval strikes.

Both sides launched fresh drone attacks on the eve of the negotiations.

Deadly attack on Kyiv

Ukrainian officials said a Russian drone attack overnight Saturday killed three civilians in Kyiv, including a five-year-old girl and her father.

AFP reporters in the capital saw emergency workers treating the wounded early Sunday in front of damaged residential buildings hit in the strike.

Deadly strikes on the well-protected city are rarer than elsewhere in the country.

Moscow heads into the Saudi talks after a rapprochement with Washington under Trump that has boosted confidence in the Kremlin.

Peskov said Sunday that the “potential for mutually beneficial cooperation in a wide variety of spheres between our countries cannot be overstated”.

“We may disagree on some things but that does not mean we should deprive ourselves of mutual benefit,” he added.