U.S. talks with Ukraine, Russia begin in Saudi Arabia as Zelenskyy calls for "more pressure" on Putin
Dubai, United Arab Emirates — U.S. negotiators worked to hammer out details of a proposed partial ceasefire in Ukraine on Monday, meeting with representatives from Russia a day after holding separate talks with the Ukrainian team. Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of undermining efforts to reach a pause in the 3-year-old war sparked by Russia's full-scale invasion on Feb. 24, 2022.
Kyiv and Moscow agreed in principle last week to a limited ceasefire, after President Trump spoke with the countries' leaders, but the parties have offered different views of what targets would be off-limits to attack.
While the White House said "energy and infrastructure" would be covered, the Kremlin declared that the agreement referred more narrowly to "energy infrastructure." Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said he would also like to see railways and ports protected, and he has repeatedly questioned Vladimir Putin's interest in any easing of the war.
In a video message posted Sunday evening, Zelenskyy said Russia's latest drone attack on Kyiv killed three people, including "a father and his 5-year-old daughter," while a day earlier, he said a strike on the city of Zaporizhzhia "took the lives of an entire family — a mother, a father, and their daughter."
As the delegations met in Saudi Arabia, Zelenskyy said there "must be more pressure on Russia to stop this terror. And that depends on all our partners — the U.S., Europe, and others around the world."
Russia, Ukraine continue trading fire, and accusations
The talks in Riyadh on Monday were expected to address some of the differences over what, exactly, could be included in a limited initial ceasefire, such as a potential pause in attacks in the Black Sea to ensure the safety of commercial shipping.
U.S. and Russian representatives began meeting Monday morning in the Saudi capital, Russia's state-run Tass and RIA-Novosti news agencies reported. The U.S. and Ukrainian teams met on Sunday in Riyadh, and more contacts were expected, though it was not clear when.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday the Russian military was fulfilling an order from Putin to halt attacks on energy facilities for 30 days. Peskov spoke several days after Mr. Trump said, following a phone call with Putin, that the Russian leader had agreed to an "immediate ceasefire on all energy and infrastructure" in Ukraine.
Russian strikes hit civilian infrastructure in the hours after Mr. Trump remarked on his call with Putin, including one that damaged a hospital, but Moscow claimed to have shot down its own weapons that were launched at energy sites before they reached their targets in Ukraine, in accordance with the purported agreement.
Peskov then accused Ukraine of derailing the partial ceasefire with an attack on a gas metering station in Sudzha in Russia's Kursk region. Ukraine's military General Staff rejected Moscow's accusations and blamed the Russian military for shelling the station, a claim Peskov called "absurd."
Meanwhile, Russian troops launched a new barrage of drones, including decoys, into Ukraine overnight into Monday, according to Ukraine's air force, causing some damage and injuries.
Trump's envoy expects "real progress" in Ukraine talks
Before the latest attack, in his televised statement Sunday evening, Zelenskyy said 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 has emphasized that Ukraine is open to a full, 30-day ceasefire that Mr. Trump has proposed. But Putin has made a complete ceasefire conditional on a total 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," Mr. 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.
Asked about reports speculating that China might send peacekeepers to Ukraine to enforce any future peace deal, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun responded Monday with an unequivocal no.
"Let me stress that the report is completely false. China's position on the Ukraine crisis is clear and consistent," Guo said at a daily briefing.
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. China is, however, on close terms with North Korea, which has sent troops to fight alongside the Russian army.
