The United States hopes to reach an agreement with Russia on a ceasefire in the Black Sea, Reuters reported. US and Russian officials began talks in Saudi Arabia on Monday aimed at making progress toward a broad ceasefire in Ukraine.
The talks, which followed US talks with Ukraine on Sunday, come as US President Donald Trump intensifies his efforts to end the three-year conflict after he spoke with both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin last week.
A source familiar with the planning for the talks told Reuters that the US side was led by Andrew Peek, a senior director at the White House National Security Council, and Michael Anton, a senior State Department official. The White House says the goal of the talks is to achieve a naval ceasefire in the Black Sea, allowing free movement of ships.
Russia will be represented by Grigory Karasin, a former diplomat who is now chairman of the Federation Council's Foreign Affairs Committee, and Sergei Beseda, an adviser to the director of the Federal Security Service.
After Sunday's meeting, Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov said the talks with the US delegation in Saudi Arabia were "constructive and meaningful" and focused on discussing the energy sector.
Meanwhile, Russia's air defenses say they have intercepted and destroyed 28 Ukrainian drones overnight. Twelve of the drones were shot down over the border with the Kursk region and the southern Russian Rostov region, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Telegram.
Four more drones were intercepted over the Crimean peninsula, over Krasnodar and over the sea. Russia is carrying out air strikes on Kiev for the third night in a row. According to local authorities, one person was injured and several houses were damaged in the region around the Ukrainian capital. (A2 Televizion)
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