The U.S.-Russia talks in Riyadh on a ceasefire in Ukraine have begun, the Russian state news agency TASS reported on March 24, citing an undisclosed source.
The meeting, which comes only a day after talks between the U.S. and Ukraine, is expected to focus on Washington’s push for a possible ceasefire in the Black Sea and a broader truce, Reuters wrote.
The discussions will take place in a closed format as journalists were asked to leave the hotel, the Ukrainian outlet Suspilne reported.
The U.S. delegation is led by Andrew Peek, a senior director at the U.S. National Security Council, and Michael Anton, a senior State Department official, an undisclosed source told Reuters.
The U.S. officials previously met Ukrainian delegates in Riyadh on March 23 in a meeting described by President Volodymyr Zelensky as “constructive and beneficial.”
Russian delegates are said to include Grigory Karasin, chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, and Sergei Beseda, an advisor to Federal Security Service (FSB) director Alexander Bortnikov.
The U.S. talks with Kyiv and Moscow come amid U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to broker a ceasefire deal and a broader peace agreement in Ukraine. After Trump’s phone calls with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelensky last week, the Kremlin claimed it had ordered a 30-day pause on strikes against Ukrainian energy infrastructure.
Kyiv had voiced support for a mutual halt on energy strikes but accused Russia of continuing the attacks. The U.S. and Ukraine previously supported a full 30-day truce, which would also apply to ground operations, but Moscow rejected this proposal unless it included a halt on foreign military support for Kyiv and other conditions undermining its ability to defend itself.
Zelensky calls meeting between Ukraine and US ‘beneficial,’ urges further unity
President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the meeting between Ukrainian and U.S. delegations in Saudi Arabia was “constructive and beneficial,” with progress made on key issues, in his evening address on March 23.
