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U.S. and Russian representatives convened in Saudi Arabia on Monday to discuss a potential partial ceasefire in Ukraine, just hours after U.S. and Ukrainian officials met for their own round of negotiations, according to Russian media sources.
The meetings took place in Riyadh, as reported by state news agencies Tass and RIA-Novosti. Following these talks, further discussions among U.S. and Ukrainian officials are anticipated.
The focus of these discussions is a proposed pause in missile strikes by both Russia and Ukraine targeting energy and civilian infrastructures. Additionally, there are plans to suspend military actions in the Black Sea to ensure safer passage for commercial shipping.
Both Ukraine and Russia have tentatively agreed to a limited ceasefire during conversations that included U.S. President Donald Trump and leaders from both nations. However, differing interpretations of what targets would be considered off-limits have emerged, with both sides accusing each other of hindering consensus on a cessation of hostilities that began with Russia’s invasion in February 2022.
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The White House has stated that the ceasefire agreement would include protections for “energy and infrastructure,” but Russian officials clarified that it pertains exclusively to “energy infrastructure.” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has since called for additional protections for railways and ports as well.
Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for the Kremlin, emphasized on Friday that the agreement made between Trump and Putin specifically addresses energy facilities, insisting that the Russian military has been instructed by Putin to suspend attacks on these sites for 30 days. Peskov further accused Ukraine of disrupting the ceasefire by striking a gas metering station in Sudzha, located in Russia’s Kursk region. Conversely, Ukraine’s military leadership denied these claims and attributed the attack to Russian fire, which Peskov labeled as “absurd.”
During a televised address, Zelenskyy remarked that a proposal for an unconditional ceasefire has been available since March 11, attributing continued attacks to Russia’s failure to stop. “There must be more pressure on Russia to stop this terror,” he asserted, emphasizing that the response depends on cooperation with international partners, particularly the U.S. and Europe.
Zelenskyy expressed Ukraine’s readiness to accept the full 30-day ceasefire proposed by Trump. Conversely, Russian President Vladimir Putin has conditioned a complete ceasefire on the end of arms supplies to Ukraine and a halt to its military mobilization—demands that have been outright rejected by Ukraine and its allies.
‘Constructive Talks’ Reported by Zelenskyy
Regarding the negotiations in Riyadh, Zelenskyy described the discussions with U.S. officials as notably more “technical” than prior meetings, involving experts from the Ukrainian military, energy sector, and diplomatic teams. He stated, “Our team is working in a fully constructive manner, and the discussion is quite useful. The work of the delegations continues.” Despite this progress, he reiterated the necessity of compelling Putin to officially command a halt to hostilities, stressing that the responsibility lies with the instigator of the conflict.
In a significant development, the Ukrainian state railway company, Ukrzaliznytsia, reported on Sunday that it had experienced a “massive targeted cyber attack” affecting its online operations, although train schedules remained uninterrupted. The restoration of their online services was ongoing as of Monday morning.
Overnight on Sunday, Russian forces launched 99 strike and decoy drones against Ukraine. According to the air force, 57 of these were intercepted, while 36 went off radar. The remaining drones inflicted damage across multiple regions in Ukraine.
In the Kharkiv area, one drone impacted a residential structure in Velyka Babka, resulting in injuries to a 25-year-old male and a pregnant woman, both of whom required hospitalization, as detailed by regional head Oleh Syniehubov on Telegram.
In the Kyiv region, officials reported that one individual sustained shrapnel injuries when a drone struck a residential location overnight.
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