US and Ukraine Delegations End Talks in Riyadh, No Agreement Reached
Negotiations between the Ukrainian and US delegations in Riyadh have come to an end, according to a report by the Russian news agency RIA Nowosti. The Ukrainian delegation left the negotiation room in a hotel in the Saudi capital, with the deputy head of the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Pavlo Paliy, declining to comment on the talks. The topic of the discussions was the parameters of a ceasefire.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, a member of the delegation, reported the start of the talks at 4:40 pm Central European Time, suggesting the consultations may have lasted around an hour and a half. However, the Ukrainian television channel Suspilny reported that it was a pause and the talks will continue.
“We have started a meeting with the US team in Riyadh” Umerov wrote on X. “The agenda includes proposals for the protection of energy infrastructure and critical infrastructure. Today, we are clarifying a range of complex technical questions – our delegation includes experts in the energy sector and military representatives of the navy and air force.”
There will be no meeting between the Ukrainians and the Russian delegation in Riyadh. According to US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff, the Russian-Ukrainian talks will take place indirectly through US mediation. Russian representatives have already arrived in Riyadh and will meet with US intermediaries on Monday. The Russian delegation is led by Senator and former diplomat Grigory Karasin and FSB advisor Sergei Beseda. The advisor to the Russian President, Yuri Ushakov, stated that the topic of the talks will include the so-called Black Sea Initiative.
As Kremlin Spokesman Dmitri Peskov explained in an interview, it is about a possible resumption of the so-called grain deal, which was in effect from July 22, 2022, to July 17, 2023. According to this, Russia guaranteed security for Ukrainian Black Sea ports for grain deliveries to poorer countries. The agreement was terminated by Russia, citing the non-compliance of western parties with contractual agreements as the reason.
During the last meeting between the two presidents, Donald Trump proposed to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that the conflict parties refrain from attacks on energy infrastructure for 30 days. Vladimir Putin reacted positively to this initiative and immediately gave the Russian military a corresponding order.
While Russia claims to be holding back on attacks, Ukraine wants to join the agreement only after additional consultations with the US. In recent days, Ukraine attacked an oil terminal in the Krasnodar region, which led to a massive fire that has not been extinguished in four days. On the night of the previous day, a gas compressor station on the border with Ukraine in the Kursk region was also destroyed. Russia accused Ukraine of massive violations of the partial ceasefire in both cases.