US holds separate talks with Russians after meeting Ukrainians about potential ceasefire

Talks in Saudi Arabia were expected to address a potential pause in Black Sea attacks to ensure safety of commercial shipping

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Ukrainians fire a self-propelled howitzer towards Russian troops in Kherson region, Ukraine. Photo: Reuters

Published: 6:46am, 25 Mar 2025Updated: 11:56am, 25 Mar 2025

US negotiators worked on a proposed partial ceasefire in the three-year-old war in Ukraine on Monday, meeting representatives from Russia one day after holding separate talks with a team from Kyiv.

It has been a struggle to reach even a limited, 30-day ceasefire – which Moscow and Kyiv agreed to in principle last week – with both sides continuing to attack each other with drones and missiles.

One major sticking point is what targets would be off-limits to strike, even after US President Donald Trump spoke to the countries’ leaders, because the parties disagree.

While the White House said “energy and infrastructure” would be covered, the Kremlin declared that the agreement referred more narrowly to “energy infrastructure”. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said he would also like to see infrastructure such as railways and ports protected.

Talks on Monday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia were expected to address some of those differences, as well as a potential pause in attacks in the Black Sea to ensure the safety of commercial shipping. Russian state media reported late on Monday local time that the talks had ended.

In an exchange with reporters at the White House, Trump said territorial lines and the potential for US ownership of a key nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine have been part of the talks.