No deal emerged from Washington’s talks with both Kyiv and Moscow in Saudi Arabia Tuesday on any ceasefire after three years of fighting, with Russia demanding that the US “order” Kyiv to enter a new deal on the Black Sea.
US President Donald Trump is pushing for a rapid end to Russia’s invasion and had hoped the latest round of talks in Saudi Arabia would pave the way for a truce.
Kyiv held a brief second round of talks with US officials Tuesday, a day after hours of US-Russia negotiations ended without breakthroughs announced.
Ukraine earlier this month agreed to a US-proposed unconditional ceasefire, but Russia turned it down, with Kyiv accusing it of wanting to gain more battlefield advantage first.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov gave no sign that Moscow was closer to agreeing to a wider ceasefire, instead calling for a new Black Sea deal more beneficial for Russian exports.
“We are, as the president said, for restarting in some kind of form, in a more acceptable way for everyone, the Black Sea Initiative,” Lavrov said. He added that Russia does not want “anybody to try to push us out” of the grain and fertiliser market.
The previous Black Sea agreement allowed millions of tonnes of grain and other food exports to be shipped safely from Ukraine’s ports, but Russia had complained that it was not beneficial for its trade.
Lavrov called on the US to “order (Ukrainian leader Volodymyr) Zelensky and his team” to enter such a deal.
He accused Western countries of trying to “contain” Russia like “Napoleon and Hitler.”
– Attacks ongoing –
Ukraine has not yet commented on the outcome of its talks.
A source in the Ukrainian delegation told a small group of media including AFP earlier Tuesday that a second round of negotiations had ended shortly after they had begun.
Lavrov’s statements came after 12 hours of talks Monday between the Russian and American delegation.
The Kremlin said earlier that Russia was still “analysing” the results of its negotiations, that the “content” of the discussions would not be made public and that there was no “specific” date for another meeting.
The Trump administration has made statements sympathetic towards Russia, with Kyiv and European allies worried it will yield to the Kremlin’s demands.
The Saudi talks came as both Russia and Ukraine escalate their attacks on the ground, with Kyiv saying its air defence units had downed 78 out of 139 drones launched by Russia Tuesday.
In Ukraine’s northeastern city of Sumy, officials said the toll from a Russian strike a day earlier climbed to 101 wounded, including 23 children.
The strike hit a residential area in the city near the Russian border as negotiations were taking place in Riyadh.
– 16 children wounded in Sumy –
The local administration in Sumy said 14 adults and 16 children were in hospital, with one adult and one child in “serious condition.”
Russia has advanced in some areas of the front for months and the Kremlin has praised troops for recently retaking swathes of territory held by Ukraine in the border region of Kursk.
Moscow’s defence ministry on Tuesday claimed to have captured two more villages in southern and eastern Ukraine.
It occupies much of the Lugansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. Russia has repeatedly said it will not give up any territory it has seized.
– ‘Intense dialogue’ –
The Kremlin has downplayed expectations of a rapid resolution since rhetoric around a possible halt in fighting escalated with the election of Trump.
A Russian negotiator had said earlier on Tuesday that Moscow would continue “useful” talks with US representatives but would aim to involve the UN and other countries.
“We talked about everything, it was an intense dialogue, not easy, but very useful for us and the Americans,” Grigory Karasin told the state TASS news agency, adding that “lots of problems were discussed”.
“Of course we are far from solving everything, from being in agreement on all points, but it seems that this type of discussion is very timely,” he said.
“We will continue doing it, adding in the international community, above all the United Nations and certain countries,” Karasin said.
Ukraine has repeatedly accused the Kremlin of trying to put off any serious discussion of implementing a halt in hostilities.
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