Russia, Ukraine says will hold seperately talks with US in Riyadh Monday
MOSCOW
Russian and Ukraine officials will seperately hold talks with U.S. officials on Ukraine in Saudi Arabia on Monday, President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Vladimir Putin's aide Yuri Ushakov said.
Donald Trump spoke to both Putin and Zelensky this week and the U.S. is also due to hold talks with Kiev in the coming days.
"Our technical teams will be there," Zelensky said, describing meetings on Monday in Saudi Arabia between US and Ukrainian officials that would happen on the same day as meeting between Russian and American representatives.
"These consultations will take place on Monday, March 24th, in Riyadh," Ushakov said Thursday in comments published by the Kremlin.
"From the Russian side, they will be attended by Grigory Karasin, chairman of the Senate's committee on international affairs, and Sergei Beseda, advisor to the head of the FSB security service."
Ushakov said he had confirmed this after talks with U.S. National Security Advisor Mike Waltz. Both agreed to send "expert groups" for the talks, he added.
The delegations are due to discuss "initiatives" that Putin and Trump spoke about regarding the Black Sea.
The Russian FSB in 2014 admitted that Beseda was in Kiev during a bloody crackdown on the Ukrainian capital in the midst of the country's pro-EU revolution.
He has been under Western sanctions since 2014.
Karasin is a career diplomat.
Kiev has said that the US is due to hold talks with Ukraine in Saudi Arabia in the "coming days".
It is not clear if they will take place on the same day or if the Russian and Ukrainian delegations will meet.
Trump floats US takeover of Ukraine nuclear plants
Trump told Zelensky that the United States could own and run Ukraine's nuclear power plants as part of his latest bid to secure a ceasefire in Russia's invasion of its neighbor.
The offer comes as some 30 military chiefs from countries keen to help protect an eventual ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine prepared for talks in Britain to discuss planning for a peacekeeping force.
Following the Wednesday call with Trump, Ukrainian President Zelensky said that Kiev was "ready" to pause attacks on Russia's energy network and infrastructure, a day after Russian leader Vladimir Putin agreed to halt similar strikes on Ukraine.
Zelensky also said he had discussed Trump's power plant takeover plan.
"We talked only about one power plant, which is under Russian occupation," Zelensky, who was on an official visit to Finland, said during an online briefing, referring to the plant in Zaporizhzhia.
He added that he had "not felt any pressure" from Trump to make concessions to Russia.
'Ending the war'
Trump also pledged to help Kiev get more air defense equipment from Europe, and to find Ukrainian children "abducted" by Russia, the statement said.
The U.S. president earlier said on his Truth Social network that efforts to reach a full truce were "very much on track."
Zelensky said Ukrainian and U.S. officials could meet in coming days for fresh talks in Saudi Arabia, where Russian and American teams are also due to meet early next week.
Russia and Ukraine exchanged 372 prisoners, Moscow said Wednesday, which was planned as a goodwill gesture following the Trump-Putin call.
Kiev and Moscow however have accused each other of continuing attacks.
Russia said it destroyed 132 Ukrainian drones in overnight attacks in several regions throughout the country.
Ukrainian emergency services said on Thursday that an overnight Russian drone attack struck residential buildings in Kropyvnytsky in central Ukraine wounding eight people, including a child.
