Riyadh, Monday, a US-Russia delegation met in the Ritz-Carlton hotel to discuss the Ukraine conflict. According to the TASS news agency, the talks began on Monday morning. Journalists were asked to leave the building shortly before the meeting started.
Russia was represented by two high-ranking officials, Grigori Karassin, head of the International Affairs Committee in the Russian Federation Council and Sergei Besseda, a consultant to the Director of the Federal Security Service (FSB). The US delegation, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, consisted of Michael Anton, a high-ranking official in the US Department of State, Keith Kellogg, a representative of the US Special Envoy for Ukraine and Mike Waltz, the US National Security Adviser.
The agenda for the meeting reportedly includes the navigation of the Black Sea and the resumption of the grain agreement, according to sources from both countries. The US Special Envoy for the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, mentioned that the moratorium on attacks on ships in the Black Sea could be a topic of discussion.
The grain agreement was signed in the summer of 2022 between Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the United Nations, establishing a corridor for the transportation of grain from Ukrainian ports. In return, Russia was promised that Western sanctions on its agricultural exports would be lifted. The agreement was terminated a year later.
Just before the meeting, Kellogg stated that the US aims to organize indirect talks between the warring parties in Riyadh. The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry denied planning any contacts with Russia.
The Ukrainian and US delegations met in Riyadh on Sunday, discussing proposals for the protection of energy and critical infrastructure in Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian Defense Minister, Rustem Umerov. Umerov characterized the meeting as “constructive and substantial.