Russia announces new talks with US regarding Ukraine will take place on Monday, as war continues

Russian and U.S. officials will hold talks on Ukraine in the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, next Monday. The announcement was made on Thursday by the diplomatic adviser to President Vladimir Putin.

"These consultations will take place on Monday, March 24, in Riyadh," Yuri Ushakov said in statements released by the Kremlin. "From the Russian side, Grigory Karasin, chairman of the Senate International Affairs Committee, and Sergey Beseda, adviser to the head of the FSB security service, will attend," he added.

It was previously reported that the meeting between U.S. and Russian officials would be to discuss a truce in the Black Sea, followed by a full ceasefire and finally peace negotiations.

Russia condemns plans to militarize Europe

Meanwhile the Kremlin on Thursday condemned "plans for the militarization of Europe" at a time when the European Union (EU) is launching a rearmament project aimed at dealing with the Russian threat.

"The signals coming from Brussels and European capitals refer to plans to militarize Europe," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "Europe embarked on its own militarization and transformed itself into a kind of war party," the spokesman added.

Major European powers, including France and UK, have decided to increase military spending since Donald Trump returned office in January 2025. This is a result of  fears that the U.S. will back away from its traditional commitment to the defense of Europe.

Despite talks, hostilities continue

Trump, after claiming that he would end the war in Ukraine in a day, spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and also with the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky. The reality is that while there is talk of a truce in the war, the attacks on the ground continue.

Russia, which invaded Ukraine in 2022, launched a barrage of missile and drone strikes hours after the call with the U.S. president. Senior Russian military officials said they had destroyed 132 Ukrainian drones in six Russian regions and annexed Crimea.

Ukraine claims that the Russian Armed Forces launched an undetermined number of Kh-101 missiles following Wednesday night's drone attack on the military airfield in the Russian city of Engels, in the Saratov region. Russia had launched 171 long-range drones, 75 of which were shot down, the Ukrainians said.