US and Russia discuss Ukraine war, consider Black Sea ceasefire
REUTERS/Thomas Peter/File Photo
U.S. and Russian officials began talks in Saudi Arabia on Monday, focused on advancing a broad ceasefire in Ukraine, with Washington seeking a separate maritime ceasefire deal in the Black Sea before finalizing a broader agreement.
U.S. and Russian officials began talks in Saudi Arabia on Monday aimed at making progress towards a broad ceasefire in Ukraine with Washington eyeing a separate Black Sea maritime ceasefire deal before securing a wider agreement, News.Az reports citing Reuters.
A source briefed on the planning for the talks said the U.S. side was being led by Andrew Peek, a senior director at the White House National Security Council, and Michael Anton, a senior State Department official.
The White House says the aim of the talks is to reach a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, allowing the free flow of shipping, though the area has not been the location of intense military operations in recent months.
Russia will be represented by Grigory Karasin, a former diplomat who is now chair of the Russian upper house of parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, and by Sergei Beseda, an adviser to the director of the Federal Security Service, the main successor agency to the Soviet-era KGB.
Trump, who has repeatedly called for an end to the war in Ukraine, has expressed broad satisfaction over the way talks have been going and has been complimentary about Putin's engagement in the process so far.
He said on Saturday that efforts to stop further escalation in the conflict were "somewhat under control".
But there is scepticism among major European powers over whether Putin is ready to make meaningful concessions or will stick to what they see as his maximalist demands that do not appear to have changed since he sent tens of thousands of 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 the territory of four Ukrainian regions claimed and mostly controlled by Russia.
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