The Japan Times - US, Russia in Ukraine ceasefire talks as 65 wounded in latest strike

With Ukrainian negotiators waiting nearby, a day after they sat down with the US team, the Americans and Russians met in Riyadh with a Black Sea ceasefire top of the agenda.

President Donald Trump is pushing for a rapid end to the three-year war and hopes the latest round of talks will pave the way for a breakthrough.

While the talks took place at a luxury hotel in the Saudi capital, 65 people were wounded in a missile attack on Sumy in northeastern Ukraine, officials said.

The attack on a "densely populated residential area" damaged apartments and an educational facility, the regional prosecutor's office said. The city's acting mayor earlier said a hospital had been affected.

The Ukrainian negotiating team was expecting a second meeting with the US delegation on Monday, a source in Kyiv told AFP, a sign that progress may have been made.

- 'Trump's proposal and Putin agreed' -

This month in Jeddah -- days after President Volodymyr Zelensky's White House dressing-down by Trump -- Ukraine agreed to a US-proposed, 30-day ceasefire that was then rejected by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Officials are now studying a possible resumption of the Black Sea Initiative, a year-long agreement that allowed millions of tonnes of grain and other food exports to be shipped from Ukraine's ports.

"The issue of the Black Sea Initiative and all aspects related to the renewal of this initiative is on the agenda today," Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said in his daily briefing.

"This was President Trump's proposal and President Putin agreed to it. It was with this mandate that our delegation travelled to Riyadh."

The US-Ukraine and US-Russia talks were originally planned to take place simultaneously to enable shuttle diplomacy, with the United States going back and forth between the delegations.

The US team is led by Andrew Peek, a senior director at the White House National Security Council, and senior State Department official Michael Anton, a source familiar with the matter told AFP.

Ukraine's Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, who heads the Ukrainian team, said Sunday's talks with the United States were "productive and focused".

Trump envoy Steve Witkoff has voiced optimism that any agreement would pave the way for a "full-on" ceasefire.

"I think you're going to see in Saudi Arabia on Monday some real progress, particularly as it affects a Black Sea ceasefire on ships between both countries," he told Fox News.

"And from that you'll naturally gravitate to a full-on shooting ceasefire."

- 'Only at the beginning' -

But the Kremlin has downplayed expectations of a rapid resolution.

"We are only at the beginning of this path," Peskov told Russian state TV on Sunday, adding: "There are difficult negotiations ahead."

When Putin, in a lengthy phone call with Trump, rebuffed the joint US-Ukrainian call for a full and immediate 30-day pause, he proposed instead a halt in attacks on energy facilities.

The traditional adversaries are now discussing the return of the Black Sea Initiative, which was originally brokered by Turkey and the United Nations in 2022.

Russia pulled out of the agreement in 2023, accusing the West of failing to uphold its commitments to ease sanctions on Russia's own exports of farm produce and fertilisers.

A senior Ukrainian official previously told AFP that Kyiv would propose a broader ceasefire, covering attacks on energy facilities, infrastructure and naval strikes.

- US, Russia's 'mutual benefit' -

As well as the missile strike on Sumy, both sides launched fresh drone attacks on the eve of the negotiations.

Ukrainian officials said a Russian drone attack overnight Saturday killed three civilians in Kyiv, including a five-year-old girl and her father.

AFP reporters in the capital saw emergency workers treating the wounded early Sunday in front of damaged residential buildings hit in the strike.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's national railway operator said it was countering a sophisticated cyberattack for the second day running.

Moscow headed into the Saudi talks after a rapprochement with Washington under Trump that boosted confidence Kremlin confidence.

Peskov said Sunday that the "potential for mutually beneficial cooperation in a wide variety of spheres between our countries cannot be overstated".

"We may disagree on some things but that does not mean we should deprive ourselves of mutual benefit," he added.

M.Fujitav--JT