Riyadh, March 24 Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov has said that the talks between US and Ukrainian delegations have concluded in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh, saying the discussion was "productive and focused", with "key points including energy" addressed.
In a post on Sunday on social media platform X, Umerov, who led the Ukrainian delegation, emphasised that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's goal is "to secure a just and lasting peace" for Ukraine and Europe at large, claiming, "We are working to make that goal a reality."
The Ukrainian and US teams met earlier in the day in Riyadh, Xinhua news agency reported.
According to the Ukrinform news agency, the Ukrainian delegation also included State Secretary of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Oleksandr Karasevych, deputy heads of the President's Office, Pavlo Palisa and Ihor Zhovkva, as well as Deputy Energy Minister Mykola Kolisnyk.
The talks came almost two weeks after a previous meeting between the two sides in the Saudi port city of Jeddah saw Ukraine okay a US-proposed 30-day ceasefire plan in exchange for Washington lifting its pause on military aid to and intelligence sharing with Ukraine.
Notably, the meeting precedes the talks between US and Russian delegations scheduled for Monday.
Media reported late Sunday that the Russian delegation has arrived in Riyadh. The delegation includes Grigory Karasin, chairman of the committee on international affairs in Russia's Upper House, and Sergey Beseda, Adviser to the head of Russia's Federal Security Service, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said earlier.
Originally scheduled to take place simultaneously to enable shuttle diplomacy -- with the US going back and forth between the delegations -- the technical-level talks on a partial truce are now taking place separately, one after the other.
In an evening address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that "Russia is the only one who is dragging this war out".
"No matter what we talk about with our partners, we need to push Putin to give a real order to stop the strikes: the one who brought this war must take it away," he said.
Discussions between the United States and Russia were set for Monday, with Russian state media reporting Moscow's delegation had arrived in Riyadh on Sunday.
Trump envoy Steve Witkoff voiced optimism that any agreement struck would pave the way to 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.
But the Kremlin on Sunday downplayed expectations of a rapid resolution, saying talks were just beginning.
"We are only at the beginning of this path," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian state TV.
He said there were many outstanding questions over how a potential ceasefire might be implemented.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has rejected a joint US-Ukrainian call for a full and immediate 30-day pause, proposing instead a halt in attacks only on energy facilities.
"There are difficult negotiations ahead," Peskov said in the interview, published on social media.
Peskov said the "main" focus in its talks with the US would be a possible resumption of a 2022 Black Sea grain deal that ensured safe navigation for Ukrainian farm exports via the Black Sea.
"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 Turkey and the United Nations -- in 2023, accusing the West of failing to uphold its commitments to ease sanctions on Russia's own exports of farm produce and fertilisers.
Both sides launched fresh drone attacks on the eve of the negotiations.
Ukrainian officials said a Russian drone attack killed three civilians in Kyiv, including a five-year-old girl and her father.
The US government announced that Zelensky agreed in the talks to halt attacks on Russian energy facilities.
Ukraine suggested that its delegation would discuss with its US counterpart a proposal to halt attacks on infrastructure facilities as well when they meet in Riyadh.
The US team is expected to hold talks with Russian officials on Monday.
Observers are closely watching whether the talks can make any progress that would lead to a ceasefire.
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