Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov announced that negotiations between U.S. and Ukrainian delegations in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, are over, terming the talks as "productive and focused," with much focus on energy matters.
On Sunday, on social media site X, Umerov, the head of the Ukrainian delegation, emphasized that the mission of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is "to achieve a just and lasting peace" for Europe and Ukraine, asserting, "We are working to bring that mission into effect."
Earlier during the day, the U.S. and Ukrainian delegations had met in Riyadh, according to Xinhua news agency.
The Ukrainian delegation comprised State Secretary of the Foreign Ministry of Ukraine Oleksandr Karasevych, deputy heads of the President's Office Pavlo Palisa and Ihor Zhovkva, and Deputy Energy Minister Mykola Kolisnyk, Ukrinform reports.
These talks follow a previous meeting nearly two weeks ago in the Saudi port city of Jeddah, where Ukraine agreed to a U.S.-proposed 30-day ceasefire plan in exchange for the lifting of a U.S. pause on military aid and intelligence sharing with Ukraine.
The discussions come just before U.S. and Russian delegations are set to meet on Monday in Riyadh.
Media sources informed on Sunday night that the Russian delegation has already arrived in the Saudi capital. The delegation is comprised of Grigory Karasin, Russia's Upper House Chairman of the International Affairs Committee, and Sergey Beseda, Adviser to Russia's Federal Security Service. Russian Presidential aide Yuri Ushakov had previously confirmed these facts.
The technical-level talks on a partial ceasefire, initially scheduled to be held together for shuttle diplomacy with the U.S. shuttling between delegations, are now taking place separately, one after the other.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, in an evening speech, reiterated that "Russia is the only one who is dragging this war out."
Whatever we discuss with our partners, we have to force Putin to give an actual order to cease the strikes: the one who brought this war should remove it," he said.
As talks between the U.S. and Russia are due on Monday, Russian state media said Moscow's delegation had arrived in Riyadh on Sunday.
Steve Witkoff, a U.S. envoy, expressed optimism that the talks could lead to 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,” Witkoff told Fox News.
But the Kremlin cooled down expectations, emphasizing that negotiations were in their initial stages.
"We are just at the start of this process," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state TV in an interview.
Peskov emphasized that there are many things left to be solved, including the fact of implementing a possible ceasefire.
Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed a call from the United States and Ukraine for a complete 30-day ceasefire and proposed instead a pause in attacks directed specifically at energy installations.
"There are tough negotiations to come," Peskov explained during his interview, which he posted on social media.
He also said that the key subject of Russia's negotiations with the United States would be the possible restoration of a 2022 Black Sea grain agreement providing safe passage for Ukrainian grain exports.
"On Monday, we will primarily discuss President Putin's agreement to resume the so-called Black Sea initiative, and our negotiators will be prepared to discuss the nuances around this issue," Peskov said.
Russia pulled out of the agreement in 2023, blaming the West for failing to make good on guarantees to relax sanctions on Russia's own agricultural products and fertilizers.
Before the talks, both sides resumed launching new drone attacks. Ukrainian authorities said a Russian drone attack killed three civilians in Kyiv, a five-year-old girl and her father.
The United States government reported that Zelensky had committed during the negotiations to end attacks on Russian energy installations. Ukraine proposed that its negotiators would also negotiate stopping attacks on infrastructure facilities with the Americans during their meeting in Riyadh.
The United States delegation will meet with the Russians on Monday, and people are eagerly observing whether any steps towards a ceasefire will be achieved by the negotiations.
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