Russia and the United States will hold consultations in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on March 24 to discuss the war in Ukraine, according to Russian presidential aide for international affairs Yuri Ushakov, as reported by state-owned news agency TASS on March 20.
Ushakov said he had spoken with U.S. President Donald Trump's national security adviser, Mike Waltz, regarding "the implementation of a well-known initiative concerning the safety of navigation in the Black Sea."
A similar arrangement previously existed under the Black Sea Grain Initiative, a deal brokered by the U.N. and Turkey in 2022. The initiative allowed Ukraine to export agricultural products via the Black Sea despite Russia's full-scale invasion, helping stabilize global food prices.
Moscow withdrew from the agreement in July 2023, effectively collapsing the deal.
Since then, Russian forces have repeatedly targeted Ukrainian port infrastructure and civilian vessels. A Russian ballistic missile struck the Odesa port on March 1, damaging port facilities and a Panamanian-flagged civilian ship.
Multiple foreign ships have been damaged in Russian attacks on the port, including in October 2024, when several vessels sustained damage in separate strikes.
The upcoming consultations in Riyadh will include Russian officials Grigory Karasin, chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, and Sergei Beseda, an adviser to the director of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB).
Beseda previously led the FSB's 5th Service, which was responsible for gathering intelligence on Ukraine before the full-scale invasion.
The upcoming Riyadh talks come after U.S.-Russia negotiations in Saudi Arabia on Feb. 18 and in Istanbul on Feb. 27. U.S. and Ukrainian delegations held separate discussions in Jeddah on March 11, where the Ukrainian side proposed a ceasefire in the sky and at sea but eventually agreed to a full 30-day truce pushed by Washington.
Putin rejected a full ceasefire in a phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump but agreed to a temporary mutual pause on strikes against energy infrastructure.
Tim Zadorozhnyy
(Updated: )
