Renewed U.S.-Russia Negotiations on Black Sea Maritime Ceasefire Set for Monday in Riyadh

Negotiations between the U.S. and Russia regarding the conflict in Ukraine will be held on Monday in Saudi Arabia, led by a Russian delegation that includes a high-ranking intelligence officer and a former diplomat, both of whom played roles during the 2014 Ukraine crisis, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov announced on Thursday.

According to Ushakov, the discussions in Riyadh will primarily focus on securing safe navigation in the Black Sea. He also confirmed his recent conversation with U.S. National Security Adviser Mike Waltz.

On Tuesday, the White House revealed that U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin had come to an agreement regarding “technical negotiations” aimed at establishing a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, following Putin’s accord on a 30-day halt to assaults on Ukrainian energy facilities.

Ushakov noted that the Russian side of the negotiations will include Grigory Karasin, chair of the Federation Council’s international affairs committee, and Sergei Beseda, an advisor to the head of the FSB security service. These remarks were shared in a statement issued by the Kremlin.

Karasin, a former deputy foreign minister, was one of the key Russian negotiators involved in crafting ceasefire agreements with Ukraine and Moscow-supported separatists in 2015, with mediation from France and Germany.

Beseda, an intelligence officer, traveled to Kyiv during the peak of Ukraine’s pro-democracy protests in 2014. Following this visit, Russia’s FSB claimed that his mission was to protect Russian diplomatic interests in the region.

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, investigative journalist Andrei Soldatov reported that Beseda had temporarily lost favor with Putin and had been imprisoned due to inaccurate intelligence prior to the war, though he was later subtly reinstated.

“These are highly experienced negotiators who have a deep understanding of international matters,” Ushakov commented.

Steve Witkoff, U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy to the Middle East, initially informed Fox News that the U.S.-Russia negotiations were planned for Jeddah on Sunday.

Later that same Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned that Ukrainian and American officials would hold separate meetings in Saudi Arabia on the same day as the U.S.-Russian talks to advance discussions on a proposed pause in strikes on energy facilities by both sides.

“Our technical teams will be present,” Zelensky stated during a press conference in Norway.

“It seems that the format will either involve a meeting between Ukraine and the U.S., followed by another between the U.S. and Russia, or there will be concurrent meetings in the same location addressing the same issue,” he elaborated.