By Abbas Nazil
U.S. and Russian officials met in Saudi Arabia on Monday to negotiate a Black Sea maritime ceasefire as both Moscow and Kyiv continued their drone attacks.
The discussions, held after the U.S. engaged with Ukraine in Saudi Arabia the previous day, followed a Russian overnight airstrike on Kyiv, which wounded one person and damaged homes near the capital.
Meanwhile, Russia reported shooting down 227 Ukrainian drones in a single day while struggling to contain a fire at an oil depot in Krasnodar, ignited by a Ukrainian attack the previous week.
U.S. President Donald Trump has ramped up efforts to end the three-year-old war, having recently spoken with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The White House stated that the primary goal of the Saudi talks was to establish a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea to ensure safe shipping routes.
However, the region has not seen major military confrontations recently, raising questions about whether the talks could lead to a broader negotiation.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov emphasized that the discussions focused on navigation safety, pointing out that a previous 2022 Black Sea shipping agreement had not met Moscow’s expectations.
The narrow scope of the negotiations suggests that Russia remains hesitant to commit to a broader ceasefire, despite an earlier U.S. proposal in Saudi Arabia for a 30-day truce.
Ukraine has significantly weakened Russia’s Black Sea Fleet since 2022, prompting Moscow to relocate some warships from Crimea.
Despite sustained Russian attacks on its ports, Ukraine has managed to maintain export levels of grain, iron ore, and other commodities from its Odesa-region ports.
However, the port of Mykolaiv remains inaccessible, and Zelenskiy has urged the European Union to support a ceasefire at sea and in the air.
Leading the U.S. delegation in Saudi Arabia were National Security Council official Andrew Peek and senior State Department representative Michael Anton.
Russia’s delegation included former diplomat Grigory Karasin and Sergei Beseda, an adviser to the Federal Security Service director.
Karasin described the nearly three-hour talks as “creative,” adding that they tackled key “irritants” in U.S.-Russia relations.
Trump has voiced optimism about the negotiations, praising Putin’s participation. However, European leaders remain doubtful that Putin will make real concessions, as he continues to demand that Ukraine renounce NATO ambitions and withdraw from four occupied regions.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin claimed that Russia was still observing a 30-day moratorium on attacking Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, which Putin had assured Trump last week. Kyiv, however, argues that Moscow has already violated this pause.
U.S. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz confirmed that U.S., Russian, and Ukrainian delegations were in the same Riyadh facility.
He noted that beyond the Black Sea ceasefire, discussions included border control verification, peacekeeping efforts, and the repatriation of Ukrainian children taken by Russia.
Waltz also hinted at further talks with Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who had arrived in Saudi Arabia on Monday.