Ukrainian and U.S. officials on Tuesday held a second session of negotiations in Saudi Arabia to discuss a possible limited cease-fire, a day after Russian and American delegations held similar discussions that lasted more than 12 hours.
Kyiv and Moscow have been holding separate U.S.-mediated talks in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, to discuss a temporary moratorium on strikes on energy sites, as well as a cease-fire in the Black Sea, a vital route for both nations to export commodities — in what could be a crucial step toward a full cessation of hostilities in Russia’s war with Ukraine.
Ukraine held its first session of talks on Sunday, followed by Russia on Monday. A Ukrainian official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the negotiations, said talks continued on Tuesday morning, and Ukrainian news media said they had ended after about one hour. The discussions have been aimed at finding common ground between Kyiv and Moscow, but both sides have cautioned against expecting an imminent deal.
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What’s on the agenda
The meetings in Riyadh were expected to focus on the details of a tentative agreement between Russia and Ukraine to temporarily halt strikes on energy infrastructure.
But Sergey Lavrov, the Russian foreign minister, said on Tuesday that the sides mostly discussed the safety of shipping in the Black Sea and the restoration of a grain deal agreed to in 2022 that allowed millions of tons of Ukrainian grain to be exported. Mr. Lavrov said that Russia was in favor of restoring the grain deal, but only if unspecified Russian demands were met.