Russian officials began consultations with US representatives in Saudi Arabia on Monday, Russian state news outlets reported on Sunday following a similar meeting with US and Ukrainian delegations. The talks aim to resolve details of a limited ceasefire that could be a critical step towards a complete halt of hostility in Russia’s war with Ukraine.
Russia and Ukraine agreed to temporarily suspend energy infrastructure strikes last week, but how that partial ceasefire will be implemented is a question that has not been decided as the attack continues.
The talks held in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, are mediated by American representatives – are expected to bash these details and focus on safety for transport in the Black Sea.
Ukraine held its first consultation with the US on Sunday. Rustem Umerov, the Ukrainian Defense Minister who leads Ukrainian Defense Minister, said these talks lasted about five hours. “The discussion was productive and concentrated. We addressed key points, including energy,” he wrote without providing details on social media.
A Ukrainian official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive issues, said the Ukrainian delegation may have additional discussions with US officials on Monday, depending on progress.
Steve Witkov, who has taken away Russian President Vladimir V. Putin’s personal envoy, said the ultimate goal of the talks was a 30-day complete ceasefire that allowed time to negotiate a permanent ceasefire.
However, the path to such a ceasefire was unstable. Moscow continues to assert its greatest position, including insisting on territorial control and preventing Ukraine from joining NATO. The Ukrainian government has repeatedly said it would not approve of the Kremlin’s demands, accusing Putin of being stuck for time.
Unlike previous ceasefire discussions involving government officials from all sides, this new round focuses on technical issues, primarily involving diplomats and government advisors. Ukraine’s special US envoy Keith Kellogg said the US delegation includes some of his own staff along with Michael Anton, Director of Policy Planning at the State Department. Advisor to National Security Advisor Michael Waltz.
Russian delegation
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri S. Peskov said on Friday that Putin had personally chosen a negotiator for a speech, a delegation led by senior Russian diplomat and MP Grigory B. Karasin. Sergei O. Betheda, advisor to the Federal Security Director, or FSB of the national intelligence agency.
Karasin has previously been involved in sensitive foreign policy consultations, but Betheda’s choice came as a surprise.
Betheda, an influential spymaster, was head of the FSB division responsible for the International Intelligence News business. He is described by Russian news outlets as one of the main sources that he has been convinced by Putin in 2022 that he has pro-Russian sentiment in Ukraine and that a lively invasion could easily dismantle Kiev’s government.
In 2023, Ukraine’s head of military intelligence, Kirilo Budanov called Beseda “a very problematic person” for Ukraine who “doed a lot of evil.”
Ukrainian delegation
Umerov, Ukrainian defense minister, led the negotiations in Riyadh. He was joined by Pablo Parisa, President Voldimir Zelensky’s top military adviser.
Umerov and Parisa are members of the peace talks for the Ukrainian delegation appointed by Zelensky this month. Umerov was a key negotiator in Ukraine in peace negotiations with Russian diplomats early in the war.
Given the technical nature of the energy and transport consultations, Ukraine sent veteran diplomats and civil servants as part of the delegation. Uklinform, a state news agency, said the team includes Deputy Foreign and Energy Ministers, along with Zelensky’s top diplomatic advisor.
Zelensky said Ukraine has created a list of infrastructure objects that could be included in the ceasefire agreement. He added that third parties must monitor the ceasefire, suggesting that the US could do so.
Russia and Ukraine may find common ground in their energy and transport consultations, but neither have set conditions for a complete halt of hostilities that appear to be inconsistent.
Moscow’s position
In a phone conversation with Trump last week, Putin said that during the period of suspension in the battle, he would only agree to a temporary ceasefire if Ukraine halts soldier mobilization, troops or weapons.
Putin also called for Kiev to halt foreign military aid and intelligence , calling it “an important condition for preventing conflict escalation and progressing towards its resolution through political and diplomatic means.”
The White House said military aid and shared intelligence to Ukraine will continue despite the demands of the Kremlin. However, the Trump administration was not very clear about Moscow’s call for territorial concessions, and sometimes seemed to coincide with the Kremlin stance.
Witkov repeated the Kremlin topic on Sunday, legalizing a gradual referendum in which Russian occupation forces were detained in parts of Ukraine, justifying the annexation of territory taken by military forces. “There is an opinion within Russia that these are Russian territory,” Witkov told Fox News. “With these territories there are referendums that justify these actions.” These referendums were widely condemned by the international community as fraudulent and illegal.
Essentially, Russia’s position on conflict remains the same. The Kremlin says they want to “eliminate the underlying cause of the crisis.” This essentially requires Ukraine to surrender. That means that Kiev recognizes the interests of Russian territory, declares neutrality, and agrees to reduce the army.
Kiev’s position
Ukraine previously agreed to an unconditional 30-day ceasefire at the request of the Trump administration to halt all combat operations. But after Moscow said it would only support a partial ceasefire in energy infrastructure, Zelensky spoke with Trump and agreed to a limited ceasefire.
Recently, Ukrainian officials have set a red line into negotiations. Kiev never accepts Russian sovereignty over occupied Ukrainian territory. I disagree with blocking participation in NATO or reducing the size of the military.
Many Ukrainian officials and analysts have expressed doubt that even a limited ceasefire will last for a long time, noting that previous trans between Moscow and Kiev has been routinely infringed, each of which denies the other side.
“I don’t believe in ceasefires. We’ve experienced this before,” Kostyantyn Yeliseev, an experienced diplomat who participated in ceasefire negotiations in 2014 and 2015 and former Ukrainian vice minister, said in an interview.
What’s next?
In an interview with Bloomberg News on Wednesday, Witkov said it was “highly likely” that Trump and Putin would meet in Saudi Arabia within weeks. American officials will also likely continue to meet their counterparts in Russia and Ukrainian in the Middle East and discuss the details of the limited ceasefire.
But the foundation of the diplomatic process is wobbling, and analysts said Moscow and Kiev are ready to continue the fight.
Dmitry Kuznets, a military analyst at Meduza, a Russian news outlet run from Latvia after being banned by the Kremlin, said:
He added: “The vision of what the Moscow-Kiev agreement will look like is still infinitely far from each other.”
Maria Valenikova and Minho Kim contributed the report.
