U.S. and Russia hold fresh talks in Saudi Arabia eyeing Black Sea ceasefire

U.S. and Russian delegations held a new round of talks in Saudi Arabia on Monday, eyeing a Ukraine settlement and Black Sea ceasefire deal before securing a broader agreement.

The talks follow a meeting between the United States and Ukraine in Saudi Arabia on Sunday. Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump held separate phone talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The White House says the aim of the talks is to reach a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea to allow the free flow of shipping, though the area has not been the location of intense military operations in recent months.

"This is primarily about the safety of navigation," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, noting that an earlier agreement on Black Sea shipping brokered in 2022 had failed to deliver what it had promised Moscow.

The U.S. delegation is led by Andrew Peek, a senior director at the White House National Security Council, and Michael Anton, a senior official from the State Department, according to local media Al Arabiya News.

Russia is represented by Grigory Karasin, chair of the Federation Council's Foreign Affairs Committee and a former diplomat, along with Sergei Beseda, an adviser to the director of the Federal Security Service, it said.

Karasin was cited by Interfax news agency as saying during a break after nearly three hours of talks that consultations were progressing "creatively" and that the two sides had discussed issues regarded as "irritants" in their bilateral ties.

Trump has expressed broad satisfaction over how talks have been going and has been complimentary about Putin's engagement in the process so far. He said on Saturday that efforts to stop further escalation in the conflict were "somewhat under control."

However, major European powers are skeptical about whether Putin is ready to make meaningful concessions.

The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia was still abiding by a 30-day moratorium on attacking Ukrainian energy infrastructure targets that Putin last week promised Trump, despite Kyiv continuing to strike Russian energy facilities.

Ukraine, which said it would only agree to the pause if a formal document were signed, has accused Moscow of flouting its own moratorium, which Russia denies.

Ukraine is expecting to meet U.S. officials Monday to continue discussing a potential ceasefire after a round of talks between negotiators from Russia and the United States, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"We are, so far, waiting for the outcome of the meeting between the United States and Russia. Based on that, we will have another meeting with the United States," a senior Ukrainian official was quoted as saying by AFP, on condition of anonymity. The official added that talks were scheduled for "today" (Monday).

(With input from agencies)