CNN
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Lengthy talks between the United States and Russia on a potential ceasefire in Ukraine have ended without agreement on Tuesday, Russian state news agency Interfax reported, pouring cold water on expectations that the two sides would be able to present some sort of joint statement after the marathon meeting.
Interfax quoted the first deputy chairman of the the Russian Federation Council’s Defence and Security Committee, Vladimir Chizhov, as telling state TV channel Rossiya-24 that the statement was “not adopted because of Ukraine’s position.”
“The fact that they sat for 12 hours and seemed to agree on a joint statement, which however was not adopted due to Ukraine’s position, is also very characteristic and symptomatic,” Chizhov told Russia-24, according to Interfax.
US and Russian diplomats had been widely expected to issue a joint statement on Tuesday morning. Such a statement would send a powerful signal that both Washington, DC and Moscow were serious about the ceasefire.
The US has not yet commented on the outcome of talks.
Russian and US officials met at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in Riyadh on Monday, the same location where the US delegation met with Ukrainian officials on Sunday.
Ukraine’s Defense Minister Rustem Umerov described his meeting with President Donald Trump’s envoy Keith Kellogg on Sunday as “productive and focused.”
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said earlier on Tuesday that Moscow was “analyzing” the results of the second round of talks between Russian and US officials. Speaking to reporters during one of his regular daily press calls, he seemed to downplay the importance of the talks, describing them as “technical.”
He also said there were currently no plans for Trump and Putin to speak, although he added that a conversation between the two leaders could be arranged “quite quickly.”
Russian officials said ahead of the meeting that they wanted the talks to focus on reviving the Black Sea grain initiative.
The Black Sea grain deal between Russia and Ukraine was brokered by the United Nations and Turkey and aimed to provide safe passage for Ukraine ships transporting agricultural produce via the Black Sea. Ukraine was one of the world’s leading grain exporters before Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The initiative, signed in July 2022 and renewed three times before lapsing in July 2023. Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday that Moscow was in favor of resuming the Black Sea Grain Initiative, “with certain conditions.”
