U.S., Russia wrap up talks on proposed Black Sea ceasefire

Russian and U.S. officials wrapped up 12 hours of talks in Riyadh on Monday focused on a narrow proposal for a ceasefire in the Black Sea between Kyiv and Moscow after the Ukraine and the U.S. completed nearly five hours of talks in the Saudi Arabian city on Sunday focused on energy infrastructure.

A joint statement following the Russia-U.S. talks will be published on Tuesday, RIA Novosti reported, citing a source familiar with the venue of the talks.

A White House source said progress was being made in the Riyadh talks and that a "positive announcement" was expected "in the near future." Russia's RIA news agency said the Russian delegation, when asked about their mood after the end of the talks, replied: "It's good."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier that no documents would be signed, the TASS agency reported.

Earlier on Monday, U.S. President Donald Trump listed other issues he said were on the table: "We're talking about territory right now. We're talking about lines of demarcation, talking about power, power plant ownership."

The White House says the initial aim of the Saudi talks is to secure a maritime truce in the Black Sea, allowing the free flow of shipping.

Black Sea ceasefire, energy infrastructure in focus

The talks in Saudi Arabia follow phone calls last week between Trump and the two presidents, Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine and Vladimir Putin of Russia, who rejected a proposal by Trump for a full 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine and have so far agreed only to a moratorium on attacking energy infrastructure.

Ukraine and the U.S. will reportedly have another round of talks centering on a moratorium on long-range attacks on energy facilities and civilian infrastructure and a halt to attacks in the Black Sea.

A Black Sea ceasefire and energy infrastructure topped the agendas during the Riyadh talks.

Zhang Hong, a researcher at the Institute of Russian, Eastern European and Central Asian Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told CMG that the talks on Black Sea shipping can help rebuild trust between Russia and Ukraine.

Noting Ukraine relies on sea transport for about 80 percent of its foreign trade, while Russia also relies on Black Sea ports for about 50 percent of its gas, 10 percent of its oil and 60 percent of its food exports, Zhang said the security of shipping in the Black Sea is of great importance to both countries, and involves economic and strategic interests.

Prioritizing the issue can help rebuild the fragile trust between the two sides and make it easier to negotiate, Zhang said, adding that it also reflects the depth of differences on more critical strategic issues.

As for a halt on strikes on energy infrastructure, Zhang said tit-for-tat attacks between two sides have put enormous pressure on both of them.

Zhang said the talks about energy infrastructure between Ukraine and U.S. are essentially a continuation of an earlier U.S.-Russian proposal for a "temporary ceasefire" to work out technical details, such as how to ensure that energy facilities on both sides are not attacked within 30 days.

(With input from agencies)