US and Russian negotiators meeting in the Saudi capital Riyadh have concluded a 12-hour round of talks aimed at securing a partial ceasefire in Ukraine. U.S. officials are now due to meet again with their Ukrainian counterparts as Trump signals that a deal on rare earth minerals is looming.
Russia's state news agency TASS said Monday's meeting had come to a close after "more than 12 hours of consultations" and a "joint statement" on the results was expected on Tuesday.
According to a senior Ukrainian government source quoted by Reuters, US officials are expected to hold further talks with Ukrainian negotiators after the meeting with Russia.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Monday he expects an agreement between the U.S. and Ukraine on sharing revenue from Ukraine's critical mineral resources soon, and his administration is in talks with Kiev about the possibility of U.S. companies owning Ukrainian power plants.
Monday's U.S.-Russian talks focused primarily on ending attacks on shipping in the Black Sea with the aim of establishing a broader ceasefire to end the three-year Russian-Ukrainian war.
U.S. officials met with the Ukrainian team as early as Sunday to discuss the protection of civilian and energy infrastructure, said Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who led his country's delegation and called the talks "productive."
Assed Baig, an Al Jazeera reporter, said from Kiev that Ukraine is now eager for Russia to agree to a deal that would protect shipping in the Black Sea, particularly "stopping the shelling of the Ukrainian ports of Odessa, Kherson and Mykolayiv".
"This is now of great concern to the Ukrainians. Ukraine really wants its ports up and running, which is why it originally proposed a ceasefire in the air and at sea." Baig said.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov confirmed Monday that U.S. and Russian officials are in talks about a possible renewal of the 2022 Black Sea Grain Initiative, an agreement that was intended to allow Ukraine to ship millions of tons of grain and other foodstuffs exported from its ports.
Moscow pulled out of the initiative, brokered by Turkey and the UN, in 2023, accusing the West of failing to honour its commitments to ease sanctions on Russia's own agricultural and fertiliser exports.
No breakthrough expected
"No one is holding their breath and expecting any breakthrough. Even Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said no breakthrough is expected in Riyadh on Monday." reported from Moscow Dorsa Jabbari from Al Jazeera.
"What is expected is that the details of what Russia is asking for will be fine-tuned. As we understand it, the Russian delegation has been talking with U.S. officials for at least the last eight hours about the details of the 30-day ceasefire agreement in terms of energy and infrastructure, and also the Black Sea initiative," She added.
Oleksiy Melnyk, co-director of the foreign relations and international security programmes at the Razumkov Centre, a Ukrainian think tank, said the length of the talks shows that the Russian side is again making "more and more" demands and requests.
Speaking to Al Jazeera from Kiev, he said there was "zero trust" between the two sides and there was "no possibility of direct talks" between Moscow and Kiev.
Melnyk said the US could increase its pressure on the Ukrainian government, but noted: "If there is no prospect or interest on the Russian side except Ukraine's surrender, what is the reason for Ukraine to engage in such negotiations?"
Maximalist requirements
The focus on the Black Sea is much narrower than the broad 30-day truce the US proposed to Russia in Saudi Arabia earlier this month.
Last week, after separate phone calls with Trump, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky agreed to a 30-day limited ceasefire and pledged not to attack each other's energy infrastructure on their territory.
However, both sides have accused each other of carrying out attacks on these specific energy targets in recent days.
The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia is still complying with the moratorium that Putin promised Trump, even as Kiev continues to attack Russian energy facilities.
Ukraine, which has said it will agree to a pause only if a formal document is signed, accused Moscow of not complying with its own moratorium.
Trump, however, expressed general satisfaction with the progress of the talks and praised Putin's engagement so far, saying Saturday that efforts to stop further escalation of the conflict were "somewhat under control."
But there is scepticism among the major European powers as to whether Putin is prepared to make meaningful concessions or whether he will insist on what they see as his maximalist demands.
Putin has said he is ready to negotiate peace, but Ukraine must officially abandon its NATO ambitions and withdraw its troops from all the territory in Ukraine's four eastern and southern regions, which are claimed and mostly controlled by Russia.
aljazeera.com/ gnews.cz - RoZ
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