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US-Russia officials hold talks in Saudi Arabia for Ukraine war ceasefire deal
Washington is aiming to achieve a Black Sea ceasefire deal before securing the wider agreement as it will help allow the free flow of shipping in the region.
A day after wrapping up "productive and focused" talks with Ukraine, officials from the United States on Monday sat down with the Russian side in Saudi Arabia, aiming to make progress towards a broad ceasefire in Kyiv.
Washington is aiming to achieve a Black Sea ceasefire deal before securing the wider agreement.
The talks come in the backdrop of US President Donald Trump's intensified drive to achieve an end to the three-year-long war. Last week, he spoke to both his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as well as Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, which resulted in an agreement on a 30-day halt to attacks on energy infrastructure.
A report from Reuters cited sources and said that the US side was being led by White House national security council's senior director Andrew Peek and senior State department official Michael Anton.
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The aim behind achieving a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea is intended with the hope of allowing free flow of shipping in the region.
Russia is reportedly being represented by Grigory Karasin, a former diplomat who now chairs the Federation Council's foreign affairs committee, and Sergei Beseda, an advisor to the director of the Federal Security Service.
Earlier meetings of the US officials with the Ukrainian side was led by Kyiv's defence minister Rustem Umerov. He had said, "The discussion was productive and focused -- we addressed key points including energy," adding that Ukraine was working to make its goal of a "just and lasting peace" a reality.
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Meanwhile, in an evening address on Sunday, Zelensky blamed Russia for being the "only one who is dragging this war out". He said, "No matter what we talk about with our partners, we need to push Putin to give a real order to stop the strikes: the one who brought this war must take it away."
