“The question of the Black Sea initiative and all aspects in connection with the renewal of this initiative are on the agenda today,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskow in Moscow. This was the proposal of US President Donald Trump that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin had agreed. “With this mandate, our delegation traveled to Riad.”
After the beginning of the Russian war of attack, an agreement on the export of Ukrainian grain from blocked ports on the Black Sea had been negotiated with the mediation of Türkiye and the UN. The agreement had expired after Russia had not extended it in 2023. Moscow had justified this with the fact that the West had not complied with its promise to relax sanctions against Russian agricultural exports.
The US specialist Steve Witkoff had told Fox News on Sunday, he hoped that there would be “real progress” on Monday, especially with a view to a possible Black Sea-Waffen rest. From this, the conversations would “naturally strive towards a complete ceasefire”.
Kremlin spokesman Peskow, on the other hand, was cautious. “We are only at the beginning of this path,” he said on Sunday on Russian state television. There are many unexplained “questions” and “nuances” on how a ceasefire could be implemented. “There are difficult negotiations ahead of us,” added the Kremlin spokesman.
The US negotiators in Riad had already spoken to the Ukrainian side on Sunday. The talks with the US delegation were “productive and targeted”, said Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustem Umerow. The delegations of both countries have “addressed important points”, including questions about the energy sector.
The Ukrainian side also expected another meeting with US representatives for Monday. The Ukrainian delegation is waiting for the result of the talks between the United States and Russia, said a delegation member of the AFP news agency. Afterwards “we will have another meeting with the USA”.
A summit of the Ukraine supporter countries is planned for Thursday. Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) also takes part in the meeting. Discussions in the French capital will be about the “further close coordination” of the European partner states allied with Kiev in the support of the country attacked by Russia, said government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit in Berlin. In addition, the possible peace negotiations and “of course also higher -level questions of security in Europe” were on the table.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced the further meeting of the Ukraine supporters’ supporters last week after the EU summit in Brussels. Ukrainian President Wolodymyr Selenskyj will also take part, said Macron.
Together with Great Britain, France strives to form a “coalition of the willing”, which in the event of a ceasefire with Russia could send peace troops to Ukraine. Paris and London agreed to send troops. The federal government has so far stated that it considered the debate premature.
On Monday, the Defense Minister of France and Great Britain met in London to discuss plans for Allied countries to secure a ceasefire agreement as part of the “coalition of the willing”.
Meanwhile, Russia continued its attacks on Ukraine. According to Ukrainian information, dozens of people were injured in a Russian rocket attack on the city of Sumy in the northeast of Ukraine. Selenskyj said that there are also 17 children among the almost 90 injuries. According to the local public prosecutor, the attack hit a densely populated residential area.
