US and Russian officials wrapped up day-long talks on Monday in Saudi Arabia, with the focus of discussions a narrow proposal for a ceasefire at sea between Kyiv and Moscow.
Even as the meeting was under way in Saudi Arabia, a Russian missile strike damaged a school and a hospital in Ukraine, wounding at least 88 people.
The talks, which focused among other issues on trying to reach a Black Sea maritime ceasefire deal, were portrayed by Washington as a step in US President Donald Trump's effort to end the three-year-old war.
A White House source told Reuters progress was being made in the Riyadh talks and that a positive announcement was expected “in the near future”. A Russian source told Reuters that a draft joint statement had been sent to Moscow and Washington for approval, with the parties aiming to release it on Tuesday.
US officials held separate talks with a team from Kyiv on Sunday. Ukrainian media outlet Suspilne said officials from Kyiv and Washington would meet again on Tuesday.
Mr Trump on Monday said territorial lines of demarcation and the fate of children abducted from Ukraine by Russia were being discussed.
Estimates vary but hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian children are thought to have been abducted by the Russian state, with many sent to indoctrination camps in Russia or Russian-held Ukrainian territory.
Asked whether the US is demanding Russia returns the children to their families in Ukraine, Mr Trump said it was a topic under discussion.
“It's one of the things that we're talking about, I know that no decision has been made,” he said at a Cabinet meeting at the White House. “We're talking about territory right now. We're talking about lines of demarcation, we're talking about power plant ownership.”
The US last week proposed Washington should take ownership of Ukrainian power plants as a way of ensuring their protection. Russia has repeatedly struck Ukraine's energy infrastructure since it launched its full-scale invasion.
Russia has seized about 20 per cent of Ukrainian territory, a vast area home to more than 3 million people. How much land Ukraine will accept giving up to its enemy will be a key component to reaching a peace deal.
It has been a struggle to reach even a limited, 30-day ceasefire – which Moscow and Kyiv agreed to in principle last week – with both sides continuing to attack each other with drones and missiles. The agreement fell short of the broader ceasefire that Washington and Kyiv had sought, which would have paused hostilities entirely for 30 days.
Despite the diplomatic push, hostilities persist. Both Russia and Ukraine have reported continued air strikes, and Russian troops continue their slow advance in eastern Ukraine, a region Moscow claims to have annexed.
US-Russia talks began on Monday at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh, Russian state news agency Tass reported.
The Russian delegation was led by Grigory Karasin, chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, and adviser to the director of the Federal Security Service, Sergey Beseda, Tass reported. The US side is represented by Andrew Peek, a senior director at the White House National Security Council, and Michael Anton, a senior State Department official, a source told Reuters.
Last week, Mr Trump spoke separately to both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin in a bid to push forward a resolution.
Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said earlier Moscow and Washington would address reviving the Black Sea Grain Initiative after Mr Putin and Mr Trump reached an agreement on this in their recent phone call.
A Black Sea maritime ceasefire is crucial because the region is a vital corridor for global trade, especially for grain exports from Ukraine and Russia.
In 2022, the Black Sea Grain Initiative, brokered by the UN and Turkey, allowed Ukraine to safely export grain despite the war, but it collapsed in 2023 after Russia withdrew, quoting unmet demands on its own exports.
The White House also said the aim of the talks was to reach a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, allowing the free flow of shipping.
White House National Security adviser Mike Waltz told CBS News on Sunday that the US, Russian and Ukrainian delegations were assembled in the same facility in Riyadh.
Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, the head of the Ukrainian delegation, said on Facebook that the US-Ukraine talks included proposals to protect energy centres and critical infrastructure. He said in another Facebook post after the meeting that “the conversation was constructive and meaningful”.
“President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s goal is to secure a just and lasting peace for our country and our people – and, by extension, for all of Europe. We are working to make that goal a reality,” he added.
The first round of talks between high-level US and Russian officials was held last month in Saudi Arabia. The kingdom also hosted a meeting between delegations from Kyiv and Washington this month, days after Mr Trump and Mr Zelenskyy clashed in a fiery Oval Office meeting.
