DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — U.S. negotiators met with representatives from Russia in the Saudi capital on Monday to discuss the details of a proposed partial ceasefire in Ukraine. The meeting came after the two sides had separate talks with their Ukrainian counterparts the day before. Both sides have accused each other of undermining efforts to reach a pause in the three-year-old war.
Kyiv and Moscow agreed in principle on Wednesday to a limited ceasefire after U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with the countries’ leaders. However, the two parties have differing views on what targets would be off-limits to attack.
While the White House said that “energy and infrastructure” would be covered under the ceasefire agreement, the Kremlin stated that the agreement referred more narrowly to “energy infrastructure.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also expressed desire to see railways and ports protected.
Talks on Monday are expected to address these differences, as well as a potential pause in attacks in the Black Sea to ensure the safety of commercial shipping. The U.S. and Russian representatives began meeting in the morning, with more contacts expected, although the exact timing is unclear.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated on Friday that the Russian military is fulfilling President Vladimir Putin’s order to halt attacks on energy facilities for 30 days. Peskov accused Ukraine of derailing the partial ceasefire with an attack on a gas metering station in Sudzha, a claim rejected by the Ukrainian military General Staff.
Ukraine’s air force reported that Russian troops launched a new barrage of drones, including decoys, into Ukraine overnight into Monday, causing some damage and injuries. Before the latest attack, Zelenskyy said in a televised statement that “since March 11, a proposal for an unconditional ceasefire has been on the table, and these attacks could have already stopped. But it is Russia that continues all this.”
Zelenskyy added that Ukraine’s partners in the U.S. and Europe, as well as others around the world, should step up pressure on Russia “to stop this terror.” He emphasized that Ukraine is open to a full, 30-day ceasefire that Trump has proposed, but Putin has made a complete ceasefire conditional on a halt of arms supplies to Kyiv and a suspension of Ukraine’s military mobilization, demands rejected by Kyiv and its Western allies.
Speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff said he expected “some real progress” at the talks in Saudi Arabia and that a pause in hostilities between both countries in the Black Sea would “naturally gravitate into a full-on shooting ceasefire.” Serhii Leshchenko, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, said the delegation remained in Riyadh on Monday and expected to meet again with the Americans.
Elsewhere, China ruled out sending peacekeeping forces to Ukraine to enforce any future peace deal. asked about reports suggesting that China might send peacekeepers, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun responded with an unequivocal no. China has provided Russia with trade earnings from oil and other natural resources, along with diplomatic backing, but has not given any weapons or sent any personnel.
Source: https://time.com/7271068/us-russia-ukraine-ceasefire-talks-saudi/
