Russia Blames ‘Ukrainian Position’ as War Talks in Riyadh Hit Deadlock

The United States and Ukraine held brief talks in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, a day after US-Russia negotiations on ending the war in Ukraine concluded without any breakthroughs.

“The talks are over. All details will be announced later,” a Ukrainian source told a small group of reporters, including AFP, shortly after the meeting began.

The discussions between Ukrainian and American officials followed 12-hour-long negotiations between US and Russian representatives, which ended without any public statements on a truce.

In Moscow, the Kremlin said it would not disclose details of its talks with Washington, stating it was still reviewing the discussions.

“The results of the talks between Russia and the United States in Riyadh have been reported to Moscow and Washington,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said. “The content of these talks will definitely not be made public,” he added.

The Kremlin said contact with Washington would continue, though no date has been set for another meeting.

Later, Moscow said that Ukraine’s position prevented Russia and the United States from adopting a joint statement following the talks in Riyadh.

Vladimir Chizhov, First Deputy Chairman of the Russian Federation’s Defense and Security Committee, made the statement on the Rossiya-24 TV channel, as reported by Interfax. He said that despite extensive discussions, the parties were unable to adopt a final document.

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“The fact that they sat for 12 hours and, as it were, agreed on a joint statement, which, however, was not adopted due to Ukraine’s position, is also very characteristic and symptomatic,” Chizhov said.

He did not specify what Ukraine’s position was or how it influenced the outcome of the negotiations. Chizhov also refrained from revealing details of the discussions, stating that their contents might be disclosed later.

The Moscow Times reported on Monday, that the Russian delegation at the Riyadh talks with the US demanded control over the entire territory of four Ukrainian regions – Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson – even though its forces do not fully control any of these regions.

According to anonymous Russian officials, the Kremlin aims to seize them within their administrative borders, as stated in the Constitution of the Russian Federation, where “their annexation is enshrined.”

“Time is currently on our side, and we’ll try to make the most of it,” a Russian diplomat told the Moscow Times.

Meanwhile, a Russian negotiator said on Tuesday that Moscow would continue “useful” talks with the White House over Russia’s war in Ukraine and would aim to involve the UN and other countries.

“We talked about everything, it was an intense dialogue, not easy, but very useful for us and the Americans,” Grigory Karasin, told the state TASS news agency, adding that “lots of problems were discussed.”

Earlier this month, days after Volodymyr Zelensky’s dressing-down by Trump at the White House, Kyiv agreed to a US-proposed unconditional ceasefire. However, Moscow rejected the offer. Ukraine and its European allies have accused Russia of avoiding peace efforts.