US, Russian Officials Meet in Saudi Arabia Following US-Ukraine Talks
US and Russian officials are meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, today for closed-door talks, Bloomberg reports, citing Russia’s Tass news agency.
The Russian delegation includes former Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin and Sergei Beseda, an advisor to the head of the Federal Security Service in Moscow.
This meeting follows discussions held yesterday between American and Ukrainian teams. Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov described the discussions with the US as “productive and focused,” stating that “key points including energy” were addressed.
White House National Security Advisor Mike Waltz indicated on CBS’s Face the Nation that the negotiations, involving “technical teams,” would center on a potential Black Sea maritime ceasefire. He suggested that this could then lead to discussions about the current front lines of the conflict. Waltz elaborated that these discussions could explore “verification mechanisms, peace-keeping, freezing the lines where they are,” with the eventual goal of achieving “broader and permanent peace.”
These diplomatic efforts occur against the backdrop of recent phone calls between former President Donald Trump and both Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky. Trump stated he has reached an agreement on a 30-day halt to attacks on energy infrastructure, though this has not been independently verified.
