Delegations from the USA and Ukraine have been holding talks in Saudi Arabia as a part of peace negotiations brokered by the administration of US President Donald Trump.
Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, representing Ukraine in Riyadh, mentioned “productive” talks had concluded late Sunday.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned in a televised assertion, “Our staff is working in a very constructive method. The dialog is kind of helpful; the work of the delegations is continuous.”
“However it doesn’t matter what we are saying to our companions in the present day, we have to get [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to offer an actual order to cease the strikes. Whoever introduced this battle should take it again,” he mentioned.
Umerov mentioned at first of the talks that the 2 events had been discussing the safety of vitality websites and demanding infrastructure from assaults. What a partial truce would really cowl has been contentious, with Moscow and Kyiv stating differing parameters.
US particular envoy Steve Witkoff on Sunday expressed optimism forward of those high-stakes talks to finish the Russia-Ukraine battle, telling Fox Information he believed Putin wished peace. “I simply don’t see that he desires to take all of Europe,” Witkoff added.
The Russian and US delegations will meet individually in Riyadh on Monday.
Within the meantime, at the least seven individuals have been killed in in a single day Russian drone assaults in Ukraine, as Zelenskyy urged his Western allies to place extra strain on Moscow to stop its assaults on the nation upfront of the peace talks.
Three individuals, together with a five-year-old youngster, had been killed and 10 had been injured in a drone assault on the capital Kyiv, the town’s navy administration mentioned on Sunday.
Elsewhere, 4 individuals had been killed in Russian assaults within the Donetsk area, regional Governor Vadym Filashkin mentioned, together with three who died in an assault on the front-line Ukrainian city of Dobropillya.
Earlier, the Ukrainian Air Pressure mentioned Russia launched 147 drones in a single day, sending them to a number of Ukrainian areas. The Air Pressure mentioned 97 of the drones had been shot down, and 25 didn’t attain their targets.
In a press release on social media, Zelenskyy mentioned assaults such because the one in Kyiv had been a each day prevalence for Ukraine.
“This week alone, greater than 1,580 guided aerial bombs, nearly 1,100 strike drones and 15 missiles of assorted varieties had been used in opposition to our individuals,” he mentioned. “New options are wanted, with new strain on Moscow to cease each these strikes and this battle.”
In the meantime, Russia’s Ministry of Defence mentioned its forces “destroyed and intercepted” 59 Ukrainian drones in a single day, centred over the areas of Rostov and Astrakhan.
‘Tough negotiations’
On Saturday evening, Trump mentioned efforts to cease additional escalation within the battle had been “considerably below management”.
The US president instructed Clay Travis, the founding father of sports activities web site Outkick, throughout an interview on Air Pressure One which “rational discussions” and having good relationships with Putin and Zelenskyy had been key to negotiating the battle’s finish.
Final week, Trump had separate discussions with Putin and Zelenskyy aimed toward ending the battle that started in 2022. They got here weeks after Trump and his Vice President JD Vance berated Zelenskyy on the White Home.
Nevertheless, whereas the talks fell wanting Trump’s purpose to safe an entire 30-day ceasefire, Putin did comply with cease Russian assaults on energy infrastructure for the interval, which Zelenskyy accepted. But, since agreeing, either side have accused one another of focusing on vitality websites.
The Kremlin on Sunday downplayed expectations for a fast decision to the Ukraine battle, saying talks had been simply starting and that “tough negotiations” had been forward.
“We’re solely at first of this path,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov instructed Russian state TV.
He mentioned Russia’s “essential” focus in its talks with the US could be discussing a attainable resumption of a 2022 grain deal that ensured secure navigation for Ukrainian agricultural exports within the Black Sea.
Moscow pulled out of the deal – brokered by Turkiye and the United Nations – in 2023, accusing the West of failing to uphold its commitments to ease sanctions on Russia’s personal exports of agricultural merchandise and fertilisers.
Earlier, Senator Grigory Karasin, main the Russian delegation, instructed the Zvezda TV channel owned by the Defence Ministry that they “hope to realize at the least some progress” within the assembly.
Karasin mentioned he and his fellow negotiator, Sergey Beseda of Russia’s Federal Safety Service (FSB), would method the talks in a “combative and constructive” temper.
“We’re going with the temper to battle for the answer of at the least one problem,” Karasin instructed Zvezda.
