The talks are aimed at establishing a “ceasefire light” – an agreement which imposes certain conditions for a pause in fighting, rather than a wholesale end to the war.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian delegation said yesterday that talks so far with the US have been “productive and focused”, particularly over energy.
The Kremlin has allegedly sent a delegation of lower-level, technical officials who have been told to discuss general issues, in a bid to slow the talks down.
“These are relatively technical people who can ensure the talks aren’t rushed, to slow Trump down,” Mikhail Vinogradov, head of the St. Petersburg Politics Foundation think tank, told the news agency.
Russia wants not only to gain control of large swathes of territory, but to ensure Ukraine is effectively eliminated as a military threat by reducing its army size, banning it from joining Nato and preventing military support from its allies.
A general view of the Ritz-Carlton hotel, where talks between Russia and U.S. are being held aimed at ending the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, March 24, 2025. (Photo: REUTERS/Mohammed Benmansour)Starting with a maximalist position will inevitably slow the talks, as mediators work to find common ground.
Over the weekend, at least three people, including a five-year-old girl and her father, were killed in drone strikes on residential buildings in the capital.
Focus on Black Sea deal instead
Today’s talks are reportedly focused on a deal around the Black Sea, which divides Europe and Russia and is a key export route for Ukrainian grain.
In return, Russia got some relief from western sanctions and could export farm produce and fertiliser across the Black Sea.
The Kremlin confirmed Monday that the deal was back on the cards in the Saudi Arabian talks, saying that Trump had raised it as a topic and that Putin had agreed to discuss it.
Two men look over the damaged nineteen-story hotel “Odessa”, in the port city of Odesa, on the Black Sea in southern Ukraine on 19 March 2025. (Photo: Oleksandr Gimanov/AFP)“It’s very unlikely Russia would, at this meeting, want to discuss broad comprehensive ceasefire,” he said.
Ukraine, on the other hand, has produced a “higher, state level” delegation, indicating they “want to push for a hurried broad ceasefire”.
“Russia also wants to get quid-pro-quo lifting of agricultural sanctions, with Western companies to again allow Russian agricultural banks to relaunch their participation in the SWIFT payments system, receiving revenue from grain and fertiliser exports.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (Photo: Contributor/Getty Images)
Petric said that there was “almost no chance” of Ukraine achieving a broader ceasefire from the current talks, so the best case outcome would be a maritime ceasefire which is agreed to mutual satisfaction, where Ukraine is able to increase its grain exports which then leads to improvement in its economic situation.
Firefighters put out the fire at a storehouse following a Russian attack in Kostiantynivka, Donetsk region, Ukraine (Photo: Ukrainian Emergency Service via AP)
Neil Melvin, Director of International Security at defence thinktank RUSI, said the Saudi talks were best seen as a “confidence building” process.
“Maritime security is one area where they probably can reach some kind of agreement without having to go into these difficult issues.”
Hope Trump loses interest
Putin is under “very little domestic pressure in terms of the losses of the war”, the expert said.
“But of course, he doesn’t want to say to Donald Trump that he’s against the ceasefire, because he feels he can neutralise the US as a factor in the conflict by keeping them engaged in the ceasefire negotiations,” he added. “I think he’s basically planning to slow walk the process.”
In this grab taken from a handout footage released by the Kremlin on 12 March 2025, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin Putin visits a command point for the Kursk group of troops involved in the counteroffensive in the Kursk region. (Photo by Handout: Kremlin)
Petric said that the Kremlin’s commitment to its “key goals” of the war would delay its agreement to a ceasefire.
“To conclude a quick all-encompassing ceasefire, from Russia’s perspective, would be to hand an undeserved victory to Ukraine and its western partners and there is almost no chance Kremlin would do that.”
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