US and Russian officials opened talks in Saudi Arabia on Monday on a partial ceasefire in the Ukraine war, a day after delegates from Washington and Kyiv had their own discussions.
US President Donald Trump is pushing for a rapid end to the three-year war and hopes talks in Riyadh could pave the way for a breakthrough.
Both sides have proposed different plans for temporary ceasefires, but cross-border attacks have meanwhile continued unabated.
Originally planned to take place simultaneously to enable shuttle diplomacy — with the United States going back and forth between the delegations — the talks are now taking place one after the other.
Russia’s TASS news agency said at around 0730 GMT that the US-Russian talks had begun.
The meeting between the Ukrainian team, led by defence minister Rustem Umerov, and the Americans finished up late Sunday night.
“The discussion was productive and focused — we addressed key points including energy,” Umerov said on social media, adding Ukraine was working to make its goal of a “just and lasting peace” a reality.
