Negotiations between Russia and the US over Ukraine to open in Saudi Arabia

RIYADH (SAUDI ARABIA) – US and Russian officials on Monday hold talks in Saudi Arabia over a partial ceasefire in the Ukraine war, a day after delegates from Washington and Kyiv met on the matter.

US President Donald Trump is keen for a swift conclusion to a three-year-old war and hopes for talks in Riyadh to lead to a breakthrough.

The warring sides have each announced competing plans for temporary ceasefires, but cross-border attacks have continued apace in the meantime.

Initially planned to happen concurrently to allow for shuttle diplomacy — with the United States shuttling between the two delegations — the talks are now occurring one after the other.

The Ukrainian team, led by defence minister Rustem Umerov, and the Americans wrapped up their final discussions late Sunday evening.

“The conversation was positive and substantive — touched on fundamental aspects including energy,” Umerov said on social media, adding that Ukraine was working to turn its vision of a “just and lasting peace” into action.

Trump envoy Steve Witkoff sounded buoyed at the prospect that any deal reached would lead to a “full-on” ceasefire.

“I think you’ll see some tangible progress in Saudi Arabia on Monday, especially as it relates to the Black Sea and a ceasefire on ship movements in between the two countries,” he said. And from that you will naturally gravitate toward a full-on ceasefire of shooting,” he told Fox News.

Outstanding questions –

But the Kremlin played down hopes for a quick solution on Sunday.

“We’re just at the first steps down this road,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview on Russian state television.

He said there were numerous unanswered questions about how a potential cease-fire could be realizable.

Russian President Vladimir Putin did reject a joint US-Ukrainian request to suspend all military activity for a full 30 days, but he did propose a cessation of attacks on energy facilities only.

“There are tough negotiations coming,” Peskov said in the interview, which was released on social media.

The “main” subject in its discussions with the United States would be a potential reinstatement of a 2022 Black Sea grain agreement that guaranteed safe passage for exports of Ukrainian farm products through the Black Sea, Peskov said.

“Our plans for Monday are primarily to talk about President Putin’s consent to renew the so-called Black Sea initiative, and our negotiators will be set to discuss the details on this issue,” Peskov said.

Moscow withdrew from the deal — negotiated by Turkey and the United Nations — in 2023, accusing the West of not abiding by its end of the bargain to lighten sanctions on its own exports of farm produce and fertilisers.

A senior Ukrainian official had earlier told AFP that Kyiv would offer a wider ceasefire, covering attacks on energy facilities and infrastructure and naval strikes.

Fresh drone attacks were launched by both sides on the eve of the negotiations.

Fresh pressure –

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

AFP reporters in the capital witnessed emergency workers treating the wounded early on Sunday outside damaged residential buildings that had been struck.

Killing hits on the fortified city are less common here than in the rest of the country.

Zelensky called on his country’s allies to impose new pressure on Russia.

“New decisions and new pressure on Moscow are needed to end these strikes and this war,” he wrote on social media on Sunday.

Moscow arrives at the Saudi talks after a rapprochement with Washington under Trump that has enhanced the Kremlin’s confidence.

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

“We might have differences on certain issues but that doesn’t mean that we should deprive ourselves of mutual benefits,” he added.