Riyadh: Russian state media said Russian and U.S. officials held a meeting between a partial ceasefire in Ukraine, ending after 12 hours of negotiations in Saudi Arabia as both sides of the conflict reported a wave of new attacks.
President Vorodimir Zelensky said that while the talks were held at a luxury hotel in Riyadh, nearly 90 people, including 17 children, were injured in a missile strike in Sumy, northeastern Ukraine on Monday.
The District Attorney’s Office said the attack on “densely populated residential areas” suffered damaged apartments and educational facilities. The city’s acting mayor said earlier that a hospital was affected.
Meanwhile, Russian media said two journalists and their drivers were hit and killed “in the area of special military operations” and used Moscow’s tenure to conduct a full-scale attack in Ukraine.
President Donald Trump is working to quickly end the Three Years’ War and hopes that the latest round of talks in the Saudi capital will pave the way for a breakthrough.
A source from the delegation told Said News that the Ukrainian negotiating team was staying for a day in Riyadh to meet with the U.S. representative.
Russia’s state-run TASS news agency quoted a source as saying the meeting with the United States ended after “more than 12 hours of consultation” and a joint statement on the results will be issued on Tuesday.
Trump’s proposal
In the last round of talks in Jeddah this month – Zelensky dressed in Trump’s White House a few days after he agreed to a 30-day ceasefire promoted by the United States, which was subsequently rejected by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Officials are now looking at the possible recovery of the Black Sea Initiative, which allows millions of tons of grain and other food to be shipped from Ukraine’s ports.
“The issues of the Black Sea Initiative and all aspects related to the update of the initiative are on today’s agenda,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in his daily briefing.
“This is President Trump’s proposal, President Putin agreed. It is under this mission that our delegation heads to Riyadh.”
United States-Ukraine and U.S.-Russia negotiations were originally planned to be held simultaneously to achieve shuttle diplomacy, while the United States was going back and forth between delegations, but they are now going one by one.
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who heads the Ukrainian team, said the talks with the United States on Sunday were “productive and focused”.
Trump envoy Steve Witkoff expressed optimism that any agreement would pave the way for a “full” ceasefire.
“I think you’ll see some real progress in Saudi Arabia on Monday, especially because it affects the Black Sea ceasefire between the two countries,” he told Fox News.
“So you will naturally attract a full-scale shooting ceasefire.”
Only at the beginning
The Kremlin underestimated expectations for a quick resolution.
“We are just at the beginning of this road,” Peskov told Russian state television on Sunday.
When Putin rejected the United States-Ukraine joint call in a long call with Trump, he asked for a full 30-day pause, instead proposing to stop attacks on energy facilities.
Traditional rivals are now discussing the return of the Black Sea Initiative, which was originally facilitated by Türkiye and the United Nations in 2022.
Russia withdrew from the deal in 2023, accusing the West of not sticking to its commitment to Russia’s own exports of agricultural products and fertilizers.
Senior Ukrainian officials have previously told AFP that Kiev will launch a wider ceasefire, covering attacks on energy facilities, infrastructure and naval strikes.
Mutual benefits
Both sides launched new drone attacks on the eve of negotiations ahead of the missile strike on Sumy.
Ukraine’s national railway operator said on Monday that it was opposing a delicate cyber attack the next day.
After Moscow’s reconciliation with Trump, it entered Saudi talks, which strengthened the Kremlin’s confidence.
“The potential for mutual cooperation among our countries in various fields cannot be exaggerated,” Peskov said on Sunday.
“We may not agree on certain things, but that doesn’t mean we should deprive ourselves of our mutual interests,” he added.
Meanwhile, as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called a “voluntary alliance”, the British and French defense ministers met in London to discuss plans for allies to safeguard any ceasefire agreement.
Regarding the shapes such an initiative might take, but Stemmer and French President Emmanuel Macron expressed their willingness to put British and French troops on the ground in Ukraine.
“If an agreement is reached, it is a deal that must be defended,” a Starmer spokesman said.
