RIYADH (Reuters) -U.S. and Russian officials wrapped up day-long talks on Monday focused on a narrow proposal for a ceasefire at sea between Kyiv and Moscow, part of a diplomatic effort that Washington hopes will help pave the way for broader peace negotiations.
Even as the meeting was under way in Saudi Arabia, where a Ukrainian delegation was present on the sidelines, a Russian missile strike damaged a school and a hospital in Ukraine, wounding at least 88 people.
The talks, which focused among other issues on trying to reach a Black Sea maritime ceasefire deal, were portrayed by Washington as a step in President Donald Trump’s effort to end the three-year-old war.
A White House source said progress was being made in the Riyadh talks and that a “positive announcement” was expected “in the near future.”
Russia’s RIA news agency said the Russian delegation, when asked about their mood after the end of the talks, replied: “It’s good.”
A Russian source told Reuters that the talks had concluded late on Monday and a draft joint statement had been sent to Moscow and Washington for approval, with the parties aiming to release it on Tuesday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier that no documents would be signed, the TASS agency reported.
Earlier on Monday, Trump listed other issues he said were on the table: “We’re talking about territory right now. We’re talking about lines of demarcation, talking about power, power plant ownership.”
Last week, Russia rejected a proposal by Trump for a full 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, and it has so far agreed only to a moratorium on attacking energy infrastructure.
As Monday’s talks were being held in Riyadh, Russian missiles struck the city of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine. Several high-rise residential blocks were damaged along with a school and hospital, regional governor Volodymyr Artiukh said in a video filmed in front of a blaze producing a column of smoke.
The schoolchildren were in a shelter at the time, averting worse casualties, he added.
“Moscow speaks of peace while carrying out brutal strikes on densely populated residential areas in major Ukrainian cities,” Ukrainian foreign minister Andrii Sybiha said.
“Instead of making hollow statements about peace, Russia must stop bombing our cities and end its war on civilians.”
MARITIME TRUCE?
The talks in Saudi Arabia follow phone calls last week between Trump and the two presidents, Volodymyr Zelenskiy of Ukraine and Vladimir Putin of Russia. Ukrainian officials met the Americans in Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
Trump, who has scaled back U.S. diplomatic backing for Ukraine and shifted publicly to a stance far less critical of Russia than that of his predecessor Joe Biden, says he aims to bring a quick end to the war.
The White House says the initial aim of the Saudi talks is to secure a maritime truce in the Black Sea, allowing the free flow of shipping.
But maritime battles have been a comparatively limited facet of the war since 2023, after Ukrainian attacks drove Moscow to move its navy far from contested waters, making it possible for Ukraine to reopen ports and resume exports.
“This is primarily about the safety of navigation,” Kremlin spokesman Peskov said. He said a previous U.N.-backed agreement on Black Sea shipping had failed to deliver some of Moscow’s demands.
A source briefed on planning for the Saudi talks said the U.S. side was led by Andrew Peek, a senior director at the White House National Security Council, and Michael Anton, a senior State Department official.
Russia was represented by Grigory Karasin, a former diplomat who is now chair of the Russian upper house’s Foreign Affairs Committee.
Karasin was cited by Interfax news agency as saying during a break in the talks on Monday that they were progressing “creatively” and that the two sides had discussed issues regarded as “irritants” in bilateral ties.
Trump had expressed broad satisfaction over the way talks have been going and has been complimentary about Putin’s engagement.
But major European powers doubt whether Putin is ready to make real concessions or will stick to what they see as his maximalist demands, which do not appear to have changed since he sent troops into Ukraine in 2022.
Putin says he is ready to discuss peace but that Ukraine must officially drop its NATO ambitions and withdraw its troops from the entirety of four Ukrainian regions that Russia has unilaterally annexed.
White House national security adviser Mike Waltz told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that the U.S., Russian and Ukrainian delegations were assembled in the same facility in Riyadh.
Beyond a Black Sea ceasefire, Waltz said the teams would discuss the “line of control” between the two armies, which he described as “verification measures, peacekeeping, freezing the lines where they are”.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov in Moscow, Steve Holland in Washington, Pesha Magid in Riyadh and Pavel Polityuk and Christian Lowe in Kyiv;Additional reporting by Phil Stewart and Don Durfee in Washington;Writing by Peter Graff and Matt Spetalnick;Editing by Kevin Liffey, Deepa Babington and Rosalba O’Brien)
