KEY POINTS
- Russia and US officials will meet in Riyadh on Monday to discuss Ukraine
- The talks aim to expand a partial ceasefire and explore an end to war
- US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz and envoy Steve Witkoff express optimism about progress
- Trump and Putin meeting possible in Saudi Arabia
MOSCOW: Senior Russian and US officials will hold talks in Saudi Arabia on Monday to end the war in Ukraine, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said on Thursday.
The talks, scheduled for March 24 in Riyadh, will focus on ensuring safe navigation in the Black Sea and exploring potential pathways towards a ceasefire, Ushakov said in comments published by the Kremlin.
“From the Russian side, they will be attended by Grigory Karasin, chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, and Sergei Beseda, adviser to the head of the FSB security service,” Ushakov said.
He added that the talks followed a telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump earlier in the week.
The White House confirmed on Tuesday that Trump and Putin had agreed to hold “technical negotiations” concerning a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea.
The US President also spoke separately with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, while Washington is expected to hold further talks with Kyiv in the coming days.
According to Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, the upcoming negotiations in Riyadh mark the continuation of expert-level discussions, with further meetings anticipated.
“We expect that negotiations will continue at the expert level and will continue in the coming days,” Peskov said on Thursday.
US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz also confirmed his conversation with Ushakov, stating that both sides had agreed to send “expert groups” to Riyadh.
Waltz posted on X (formerly Twitter) that their discussions focused on “implementing and expanding the partial ceasefire President Trump secured from Russia.”
I spoke today with my Russian counterpart Yuri Ushakov about President Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
We agreed our technical teams would meet in Riyadh in the coming days to focus on implementing and expanding the partial ceasefire President Trump secured from…
— Mike Waltz (@MikeWaltz47) March 19, 2025
US envoy Steve Witkoff, in an interview with Bloomberg Television, expressed optimism that a ceasefire agreement could be reached within weeks.
“They agreed on a pathway to some ceasefire conditions… and to a full-on ceasefire that will be negotiated over the coming days. I actually think in a couple of weeks we’re going to get to it,” he said.
The involvement of Beseda in the talks has drawn attention due to his past role in Ukraine. The FSB official was reportedly in Kyiv during Ukraine’s pro-EU revolution in 2014, and has been under Western sanctions since that period.
Karasin, a career diplomat, previously played a role in negotiating ceasefire agreements with Ukraine and separatists in 2015, mediated by France and Germany.
While the details of the upcoming talks remain undisclosed, the discussions are expected to touch upon the “Black Sea Initiative”—a deal brokered by Turkey and the United Nations in 2022 that facilitated Ukrainian grain exports via the Black Sea despite the war.
Russia withdrew from the initiative after a year, citing obstacles to its own food and fertiliser exports.
Witkoff also said that a meeting between Trump and Putin in Saudi Arabia could be a possibility, stating, “My best bet would be it’s likely to happen.” However, no timeline has been provided for such a meeting.
