Representatives of Russia and the United States have started talks on the settlement of the Ukrainian conflict, a source close to the Russian delegation was quoted by TASS News Agency.
The meeting is taking place at The Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh. Saudi security services previously asked reporters to leave the hotel where the talks are taking place.
The Russian delegation is led by Grigory Karasin, the head of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, and Sergey Beseda, adviser to the director of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB). The US delegation includes State Department’s Policy Planning Director Michael Anton, as well as aides to Donald Trump’s special envoy for Ukraine and Russia Keith Kellogg and national security advisor Mike Waltz.
According to Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov, the topic of the consultations will be the resumption of the Black Sea grain initiative. Such agreements were reached during a telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump. The American president’s national security advisor confirmed that the delegations will focus on the issue of cessation of hostilities in the Black Sea. He noted that at the next stage of the talks, Russia and the US will discuss issues related to the verification of the ceasefire, the peacekeeping contingent, as well as the ownership of territories.
On the eve of the talks, US special envoy Steve Witkoff said that the US expects to make “real progress” during the consultations in Riyadh, including on the ceasefire in the Black Sea. After that, he said, “you’ll naturally gravitate into a full-on shooting ceasefire.”
US-Ukraine talks
On the evening of March 23, US and Ukrainian delegations held talks in Riyadh, attended by Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, deputy head of the Ukrainian presidential office Pavel Palisa, as well as representatives of the armed forces and energy specialists. The participants in the consultations discussed the parameters of a 30-day ceasefire on energy facilities, as well as issues related to the safety of navigation in the Black Sea.
Source: Al-Manar English Website
