• Talks aimed at sealing the Black Sea ceasefire deal.
• President Trump has strengthened his momentum to end the three-year-old conflict.
• The two sides discussed the issue of what is seen as “stimulus” in bilateral relations.

U.S. and Russian officials held talks in Saudi Arabia on Monday aimed at Moscow and Kiev hit each other with drones aimed at sealing the Black Sea ceasefire agreement ahead of a broader ceasefire agreement reached in Ukraine.

Russia’s third consecutive overnight air strike on Kiev, injured a person and caused damage to homes in the area near the Ukraine’s capital after negotiations with Ukraine on Sunday.

Russia said in the past 24 hours that Russia defeated 227 Ukrainian drones in the past 24 hours as firefighters in its southern Krasnodar region fought for the fifth day of the fight in the Ukrainian drone attack last week.

U.S. President Donald Trump strengthened his motivation to end the three-year-old conflict after talking to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Russian President Vladimir Putin last week.

The White House said the purpose of the Saudi Arabian negotiations is to reach a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, allowing for free transport, although the region is not the site of strong military operations in recent months, and it is unclear whether the negotiations will quickly lead to a new agreement or whether it is intended to cover a scope of the agenda in the side.

“It’s mainly about the safety of navigation,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, noting that a 2022 agreement on the Black Sea Shipping Company failed to provide Moscow’s commitment.

The focus on the Black Sea is much narrower than a 30-day ceasefire deal proposed in Saudi Arabia earlier this month, suggesting that Russia may still be somehow from agreeing to any major battle.

Since 2022, Ukraine has caused significant damage to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, forcing Moscow to remove some ships from its base in Crimea.

Despite Russia’s attack on the port, Ukraine was able to export grains, iron ore and other commodities through the Black Sea from its three major seaports in the Odesa region at a level similar to those before the war.

Business activity in the euro zone grew at its fastest pace in the seven months in March, although growth remains weak.

However, it cannot use Mykolaiv’s port (another major export hub at one time), and Zelenskiy calls for EU leaders to support the idea of ​​a truce at sea and air.

European suspicion

A source introduced Saudi Arabia’s talks plan, led by Andrew Peek, senior director of the White House National Security Council, and Michael Anton, a senior State Department official.

Russia is represented by former diplomat Grigory Karasin, currently chairman of the Russian House of Lords of the Congressional Foreign Affairs Committee and is represented by Sergei Beseda, director of the Federal Security Services Agency and adviser to the main successor in the Soviet era.

Karacin is quoted International transactions The news agency said in nearly three hours that the consultations were going on “creatively” and the two sides discussed the issue considered “stimulators” in bilateral relations.

Trump has repeatedly called for an end to the Ukrainian war, and he has expressed broad satisfaction with the way the negotiations are conducted and has been free of charge for Putin’s participation in the process so far.

But the major European powers are still sticking to what they see if Putin is ready to make real concessions, as his maximizing demands have not seemed to change since the dispatch of troops into Ukraine in 2022.

Putin said he was ready to discuss peace, but Ukraine must formally abandon NATO ambitions and withdraw its troops from all territories in the four claimed and mostly Russian-controlled Ukrainian regions.

Stop energy attacks

The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia is still following a 30-day moratorium on attacking Ukrainian energy infrastructure targets, and Putin promised Trump last week, despite Kiev continuing to strike on Russian energy facilities.

Ukraine said it agreed to a pause only when the official document was signed, accusing Moscow of violating its own moratorium in Russia’s denial of its moratorium.

White House national security adviser Mike Waltz told CBS on Sunday that “Facing the Country” delegations from the United States, Russia and Ukraine gathered in the same facility in Riyadh.

Saudi State Television said on Monday that Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov arrived in Saudi Arabia. His presence may indicate that the U.S. delegation will hold further talks with Ukraine after consultations with Russia are concluded.

Walz said that in addition to the Black Sea ceasefire, the team will discuss the “line of control” between the two countries, which he described as “verification measures, maintaining peace, freezing the route they are in.”

He said “confidence-building measures” are also being discussed, including the return of Ukrainian children taken away by Russia.