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Daylong talks in Saudi Arabia between the U.S. and Russia over a temporary ceasefire in the Ukraine war were "difficult" but "constructive," a Russian official said.
Grigory Karasin, a member of the Russian delegation and chair of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, gave the update to state news agency RIA.
"A very interesting, difficult, but quite constructive conversation took place with the U.S. expert team. They sat all day from morning until late at night," Karasin said on Tuesday morning.
He also told the Russian state news agency TASS that negotiators "discussed everything, and the dialogue was detailed and complex but quite useful for us and for the Americans. We discussed numerous issues."
Why It Matters
The Trump administration is trying to broker a temporary ceasefire—perhaps only partial at first—it hopes will lead to a peace deal that ends the Russia-Ukraine war. Moscow launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
U.S. President Donald Trump has criticized the destruction and loss of life and no longer wants American taxpayers to carry the financial burden of supporting Ukraine's defense through military aid. Ending the war is a major priority of his.
What To Know
The delegations were discussing the technical details of a 30-day ceasefire on energy infrastructure already agreed by Moscow and Kyiv and a potential maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea.
The delegations met on Monday at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh for 12 hours. A joint statement on the meeting is expected on Tuesday, RIA reported.
The U.S. will now hold more talks in Saudi Arabia with Ukraine. Delegations from Kyiv and Washington had also met on Sunday in Riyadh.
Trump spoke separately by phone last week with Russia's President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky to move a ceasefire forward.
U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz gave details of the path forward in an interview with Margaret Brennan on CBS's Face the Nation.
Waltz said there will be a ceasefire on aerial infrastructure, a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea to get fuel and grain trade shipments moving again, and then talks about the "line of control, which is the actual front lines."
"And that gets into the details of verification mechanisms, peacekeeping, freezing the lines where they are," Waltz said.
"Then, of course, the broader and permanent peace, which will be some type of discussion of territory for permanent peace and a lasting peace, what the Ukrainians tend to talk about or have talked about as security guarantees."
What People Are Saying
"What we need is movement toward real peace—toward guaranteed security," Ukraine's Zelensky said in a video posted to X on Monday evening.
"And this is something we all need—in Ukraine, in Europe, in America, and across the world—everyone who wants stability in international relations.
"Russia remains the only actor dragging this war out, jeering at both our people and the global community. To push Russia toward peace, we need strong moves and strong actions."
Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said Russia is "in favor of resuming in some form more acceptable to everyone" a truce in the Black Sea, TASS reported.
But Lavrov said Russia will need clear guarantees when doing so, which means an order from Trump to Zelensky not to break it. Lavrov said Russia cannot take Kyiv at its word.
What Happens Next
We await the Tuesday joint statement from the U.S. and Russia, and the outcome of the newest talks underway with Ukraine. A partial ceasefire appears imminent—but is not confirmed.
Updated, 3/25/25, 7:10 a.m. ET: Comments by Sergey Lavrov were added.
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About the writer
Shane Croucher is a Breaking News Editor based in London, UK. He has previously overseen the My Turn, Fact Check ... Read more