US-Russia talks on Ukraine war: What’s on the table in Saudi Arabia?

Negotiators from the United States and Russia have started talks in Saudi Arabia as they aim to make progress towards a broad ceasefire in Ukraine, with the resumption of the Black Sea grain deal and a continued pause in attacks against energy and civilian infrastructure high on the agenda.

The peace talks are being held in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, a day after negotiations between the US and Ukrainian delegations as part of President Donald Trump’s push to end the more than three years of war between Ukraine and Russia.

Russia’s team is headed by Sergei Beseda, a veteran of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), and diplomat Grigory Karasin who has previously been deputy foreign minister and ambassador to the UK.

The US Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, who has also been leading the Russia-Ukraine negotiations, voiced optimism that talks could pave the way for a “full-on” ceasefire.

“I think you’re going to see in Saudi Arabia on Monday some real progress, particularly as it affects a Black Sea ceasefire on ships between both countries. And from that you’ll naturally gravitate to a full-on shooting ceasefire,” he told Fox News on Sunday.

But the Kremlin has downplayed expectations. “We are only at the beginning of this path,” spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state TV on Sunday. “There are difficult negotiations ahead.”

The latest round of talks comes amid heightened diplomatic efforts by the Trump administration to broker a peace deal.

So what was discussed between the US and Ukraine, and what is on the table for the US-Russia talks?

What did the US and Ukraine discuss?

The peace talks between the US and Ukrainian delegations in Riyadh concluded late on Sunday.

Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, who led the delegation, said the talks were “productive”. He added that the two groups discussed the protection of critical and energy infrastructure from attacks. However, what infrastructure the truce would specifically cover is uncertain, with Russia and Ukraine stating different parameters.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday in his nightly video address that the two delegations were working and the conversation was “quite useful”.

“But no matter what we say to our partners today, we need to get [Russian President Vladimir] Putin to give a real order to stop the strikes. Whoever brought this war must take it back.”

On the eve of the latest round of talks that began on Sunday, Russia carried out attacks across Ukraine, including the capital Kyiv, killing seven people. Also on Sunday, Ukrainian state railway operator Ukrzaliznytsia came under a “massive targeted cyber attack” on its online services.

What’s on the table for US-Russia talks? When did it begin?

The US-Russia talks began at about 10:30am (07:30 GMT) on Monday, according to the Russian state news agency TASS.

Here is what is expected to be on the agenda of the talks:

Black Sea maritime ceasefire

US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz told CBS News on Sunday: “We are now going to talk about a Black Sea maritime ceasefire so that both sides can move grain, fuel, and start conducting trade again in the Black Sea.”

On Sunday, the Kremlin spokesman also said the resumption of the 2022 Black Sea grain deal will be the “main” focus of the talks.

“On Monday, we mainly intend to discuss President Putin’s agreement to resume the so-called Black Sea initiative, and our negotiators will be ready to discuss the nuances around this problem,” Peskov said.

Moscow pulled out of the deal – brokered by Turkiye and the United Nations – in 2023, accusing the West of failing to lift sanctions on Russia’s exports of farm produce and fertilisers.

Energy infrastructure

Last week, Putin and Zelenskyy agreed to a 30-day limited ceasefire, pledging not to attack energy infrastructure in each other’s territories after separate phone calls with Trump. However, the US president was unable to get Putin to agree to a complete 30-day ceasefire, including a cessation of hostilities in the Black Sea.

Trump’s calls came a week after Washington and Kyiv announced “an immediate, interim 30-day ceasefire”. “The ball is now in Russia’s court,” Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, posted on X after meeting with the Ukrainian delegation on March 11 in Riyadh.

However, since the March 18 agreement, Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of attacks on energy sites.

Discussions about energy infrastructure will likely surface in Monday’s discussions.

Monthlong ceasefire

Putin has previously said while Russia supported the idea of a complete ceasefire, there were some issues that needed to be ironed out with the US.

One of the questions Putin raised was about how the ceasefire would be monitored. The Russian president said during a news conference on March 13: “Who will give orders to stop hostilities? … Who will determine where and who has violated a possible ceasefire agreement for 2,000km [1,243 miles]?”

The Russian leader has also demanded a halt of arms supplies to Kyiv and a suspension of Ukraine’s military mobilisation.

NSA Waltz hinted that the two sides plan to iron out these technicalities during their meeting on Monday.

“We’ll talk the line of control, which is the actual front lines, and that gets into the details of verification mechanisms, peacekeeping, you know, freezing the lines where they are,” he told CBS.

The return of Ukrainian children

The US-Ukraine ceasefire statement from March 11 stressed “the exchange of prisoners of war, the release of civilian detainees, and the return of forcibly transferred Ukrainian children” during those 30 days.

Waltz told CBS that the return of these children is among several “confidence building” measures that could be discussed.

What about Ukraine’s European allies?

Last month, after his first call to Putin, Trump announced the immediate start of peace talks without involving his European allies. The overture to Putin peeved European leaders who scrambled to get a seat at the table in Ukraine peace talks.

North Atlantic ties have since been strained as Trump has not taken European concerns on board. European leaders, who talked about security guarantees from the US, have since been forced to increase their defence budgets amid threats from Russian aggression.

Ahead of Monday’s meeting, Waltz did not talk about the role of Ukraine’s European allies, including European peacekeeping forces.

United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer on March 2 declared that a “coalition of the willing” would devise peace terms and present them to the US.

However, Trump’s envoy Witkoff deemed the coalition “a combination of posture and pose” in an interview with conservative journalist Tucker Carlson on Saturday.

Witkoff, who met Putin in early March, rejected allies’ concerns about the Russian leader’s aspirations for European territory.

“I just don’t see that he [Putin] wants to take all of Europe. This is a much different situation than it was in World War II. “I feel that he [Putin] wants peace,” he told Fox News on Sunday.