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The talks come a day before US officials are set to meet with Russia’s delegation.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov announced on Sunday that talks between US and Ukrainian delegations in the Saudi Arabian capital, Riyadh, were “productive and focused” and with “key points including energy” addressed.In a post on social media platform X, Umerov, who led the Ukrainian delegation, emphasised that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s goal is to “secure a just and lasting peace” for Ukraine and Europe at large, claiming, “We are working to make that goal a reality.”The Ukrainian delegation also included State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Oleksandr Karasevych, deputy heads of the President’s Office – Pavlo Palisa and Ihor Zhovkva – as well as Deputy Energy Minister Mykola Kolisnyk, according to the Ukrinform news agency.Palisa confirmed on the same day that they would not be meeting with the Russian delegation in Riyadh.In a video address on Sunday evening, Zelensky said that the talks held that day between the US and Ukrainian officials were “very productive”. He also called on all parties to continue to exert pressure on Russia to compel it to achieve a “genuine” ceasefire.The talks came almost two weeks after a previous meeting between the two sides in the Saudi port city of Jeddah, which saw Kyiv agree to a Washington proposal for a 30-day ceasefire, in exchange for the US lifting its pause on military aid to and intelligence sharing with Ukraine.Notably, the meeting precedes the talks between US and Russian delegations, which are scheduled to take place on Monday.The Kremlin’s delegation includes chairman of the committee on international affairs in Russia’s upper house, Grigory Karasin, and adviser to the head of Russia’s Federal Security Service, Sergey Beseda, according to a Russian presidential aide.The talks come just a few days after Zelenskyy had accused his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin of stalling ceasefire efforts, while continuing to continuing to act as an “aggressor”. Despite the two leaders agreeing in principle to a limited ceasefire, the Kremlin’s attacks on Ukraine have not ceased, but rather increased in intensity.On Friday, an EU Summit in Brussels reiterated calls to bolster Europe’s defences. EU leaders agreed that the bloc’s 27-members must be fully capable of defending themselves against a Russian attack by 2030.Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is leading the US delegation in Saudi Arabia. Speaking to US media outlets, Witkoff said he didn’t believe fears that Putin was after more territory in Europe.”I just don’t see that he wants to take all of Europe. This is a much different situation than it was in World War I and World War II, there was no NATO,” he said.“To me it just… I take him at his word in this sense. And I think the Europeans are beginning to come to that belief too. But it sort of doesn’t matter. That’s an academic issue.”He also said he’s only intent on delivering “his boss” US President Donald Trump’s agenda, ending the war.US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that efforts to stop further escalation between Russia and Ukraine were “somewhat under control”. He’s also stated that he hopes the Riyadh talks offer a breakthrough to finally bring the more than three-year war to a close.
