ISTANBUL

Russia and the US began a new round of bilateral talks on Monday in Saudi Arabia.

Russian state news agency TASS reported that the negotiations started in Riyadh in a closed format and that Saudi security officials requested journalists at the venue to leave the premises.

On Thursday, Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov, following a phone call with US National Security Adviser Michael Waltz, announced that the new round of talks would take place on March 24 in Riyadh.

The meeting is aimed "mainly to work out the prospects for the possible implementation of the well-known initiative concerning the safety of navigation in the Black Sea," Ushakov said in a Kremlin statement, referring to the Black Sea Grain Initiative.

The grain deal, signed in July 2022 in Istanbul by Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine, was aimed at resuming grain exports from Ukrainian ports halted due to the Russia-Ukraine war, which began in February 2022.

On July 17, 2023, Russia withdrew from the deal, saying that the Russian part of the agreement had not been implemented. It sought the loosening of banking restrictions and the ability to ship its fertilizer before returning to the agreement.

The meeting between the two delegations follows separate talks between Kyiv and Washington’s delegations in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, which Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerov described as "productive."

“President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s goal is to secure a just and lasting peace for our country and our people — and, by extension, for all of Europe. We are working to make that goal a reality,” Umerov stated on Facebook.

US special envoy Steve Witkoff also expressed optimism about achieving peace, potentially starting with a Black Sea ceasefire, though continued strikes from both sides have raised doubts about progress.

In remarks to local media on Monday, Serhiy Leshchenko, adviser to the head of Ukraine's Presidential Office, said that Kyiv's delegation remains in Riyadh for possible consultations with the US delegation after their meeting with the Russian delegation.