US and Ukraine meet in Riyadh

U.S. and Ukrainian delegations went to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday to continue talks on a possible partial truce. The meeting comes on the eve of another for the same purpose between U.S. and Russian representatives.

"The agenda includes proposals to protect energy facilities and critical infrastructure," said the head of the Ukrainian delegation, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov. The senior official said the two teams were to resolve "a number of complex technical issues."

After assuring on Saturday that he was making preparations for the meeting, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called hours before the meeting for his allies to consider "new decisions and new pressure" on Moscow, necessary, he said, to end the war and attacks perpetrated with weapons with foreign components.

"We must strengthen Ukraine and our army – with more air defense systems and real support," he insisted in a posting on X. "I thank all partners who understand this and continue to support Ukraine."

Meanwhile, the war continues. Zelensky claimed in that post that there was a Russian attack overnight with more than 150 drones that reportedly left three dead and 10 wounded. In addition, the Ukrainian military assured that it had captured a village in the region of Lugansk. For their part, Russian authorities assured that Ukrainian attacks left two dead.

Washington-Moscow meeting

In anticipation of the meeting between U.S. and Russian negotiators, White House special envoy Steve Witkoff was optimistic in a Fox News interview over the weekend.

Witkoff said he hoped to see "real progress," particularly on a cessation of hostilities in the Black Sea. That, he said, would be a starting point for a ceasefire on all fronts.

Also, the spokesperson for the Trump administration at the negotiations remarked on the "potential for mutually beneficial cooperation in a wide variety of spheres between our countries." "We may disagree on some things, but that doesn't mean we should deprive ourselves of mutual benefit," he added.

Also in a television interview, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov maintained that "difficult negotiations" were ahead, describing the meeting as only one of the first steps.

"On Monday we intend to discuss primarily President Putin's agreement to resume the so-called Black Sea initiative, and our negotiators will be ready to discuss the nuances around this problem," he said. The agreement, which Russia withdrew from in 2023, allowed safe navigation for ships with Ukrainian agricultural exports.

In words picked up by Russia's official TASS news agency, he accused the European Union of escalating hostilities because of its plan to increase defense spending: "It’s a paradox: instead of seeking to eliminate the root causes of the conflict, Europe is only multiplying them."