Half-day workers: Russia and the USA held a 12-hour round of consultations

Russia and Ukraine may enter into a direct dialogue on conflict resolution if positions on narrow issues really begin to converge, experts interviewed by Izvestia believe. But even that won't be easy. Regular talks between representatives of the Russian Federation and the United States ended in Riyadh the day before. The results of the 12-hour meeting will be announced on March 25. The Russian delegation to Saudi Arabia was represented by Grigory Karasin, Head of the Federation Council's International Affairs Committee, and Sergey Beseda, Adviser to the FSB Director. The central topic of the meeting was, in particular, the resumption of the Black Sea Initiative. A day earlier, the Americans held talks with the Ukrainian side — they lasted only an hour. And so far, Kiev only continues to actively violate the ban on attacks on Russian energy facilities. Whether the United States can guarantee the fulfillment of any agreements by the Ukrainians is in the Izvestia article.

How were the consultations between the Russian Federation and the United States in Riyadh?

On the evening of March 24, the Russian-American negotiations, which lasted more than 12 hours, ended in Riyadh. According to journalists who followed the meeting, the parties broke off three times for short breaks. The Russian negotiating team was led by Grigory Karasin, Chairman of the Federation Council's International Affairs Committee, and Sergei Beseda, Adviser to the FSB Director. As Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation, emphasized, the delegation, formed personally by Vladimir Putin, brought together the most experienced negotiators.

This meeting has been expected since the middle of last week after Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump held their second phone call since the beginning of the year. However, the results of the negotiations are still unknown: the delegations of the Russian Federation and the United States did not communicate with the press, and a joint statement is expected to be published only on March 25.

The talks in Riyadh were another attempt by Moscow and Washington to find common ground in the context of the protracted conflict in Ukraine. By the way, this is the longest meeting of the countries' delegations in 2025. Earlier it was reported that the key topic of the talks would be the possibility of resuming the Black Sea Initiative. "The point of the initiative is to ensure the safety of navigation," Peskov said, confirming that the Russian leader had agreed to talks after an appeal from the American side.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Vershinin, meanwhile, discussed with the head of UNCTAD the issues of safe navigation in the Black Sea. However, as the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, noted, "one should not expect breakthroughs" from the negotiations in Riyadh: the work went on behind closed doors, focusing on technical aspects, including mechanisms for verifying the ceasefire and freezing the line of contact.

Grigory Karasin, commenting on the course of the negotiations, noted that the parties discussed topical issues and approached the consultations creatively. "The United States and I manage to keep in touch and understand each other's point of view," he said. The United States approached this round of negotiations with the realization that the idea of achieving a complete ceasefire along the current line of contact is impossible overnight, according to Tigran Meloyan, an analyst at the HSE Center for Mediterranean Studies.

— First, we need to draw up a roadmap and start paving the way for peace by stopping attacks on energy infrastructure and ensuring the safety of navigation on the Black Sea. The latter should probably lead the parties to resume the "grain deal" later. However, there is no certainty that it will work," the expert told Izvestia.

The Ukrainian delegation, according to Pavel Palisa, deputy head of Zelensky's office, had no direct contact with the Russian side, despite the fact that they had held talks with the Americans a day earlier in the same Riyadh. Perhaps, as previously reported by the special envoy of the American president for Ukraine, Keith Kellogg, there was a format of "shuttle diplomacy" through American intermediaries. It is likely that on March 25, Ukrainian representatives will meet again with colleagues from the United States to learn about the results of the latest dialogue with Moscow. The composition of the delegations, however, suggests that the dialogue is more expert than political, says Andrei Kortunov, an expert at the Valdai Club.

— A lot will depend on how well it will be possible to combine the Russian and Ukrainian positions. So far, the Americans are reading the position of the Ukrainian side, then they hold talks with the Russian Federation, and return to the Ukrainians, informing them about what they managed to agree on in a dialogue with Moscow. If the positions really begin to converge, then it is impossible to rule out a direct bilateral conversation on these narrow issues. But even that won't be very easy. It should be borne in mind that the parties may have claims against each other regarding the implementation of agreements," Kortunov said in an interview with Izvestia.

How will recent events affect the peaceful settlement

An important positive signal was Dmitry Peskov's confirmation that Vladimir Putin, through US Special envoy Steve Witkoff, gave Donald Trump a personal gift — a portrait of the Republican, painted by a Russian artist. This gesture underscores Moscow's desire to preserve informal communication channels. Witkoff spoke about this in an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson, noting the friendly nature of the relations between the two leaders. The official position of the United States does not seem to be changing: first, a cease-fire, and then a political settlement. As stated in the State Department, "the essence of the differences on Ukraine can be discussed only after the cease-fire." They stressed that Washington is currently working only in this direction.

At the same time, the essence of Russia's position is as follows: for a long-term resolution of the conflict, it is necessary to eradicate its root causes, which means that a cease-fire without a political settlement is meaningless.

The main question that arises after the Riyadh consultations is whether Kiev is able to fulfill the agreements. Recall that following a telephone conversation between the presidents of the Russian Federation and the United States on March 18, Vladimir Putin agreed to Donald Trump's proposal that Russia and Ukraine abandon attacks on energy infrastructure facilities for 30 days, and immediately gave the Russian military the appropriate command. At the same time, Russia has been attacked by the Ukrainian Armed Forces for several days in a row: on March 22-24 alone, Kiev attacked the Valuika gas distribution station, the Glebovskoye gas condensate field in Crimea, the Kropotkinskaya oil pumping station and the Kavkazskaya oil pumping station, which, according to the Russian Defense Ministry, "destructively affects the financial results of the Caspian Pipeline Consortium", which includes American shareholders. All this calls into question not only Kiev's ability to negotiate, but also the role of the United States as a guarantor of the agreements.

— The position of the Russian Federation in recent days: Ukraine does not comply with the cessation of strikes on the energy sector. When Russia accuses Ukraine of violating the law, it is clear that Kiev shrugs it off, blaming everything on "Kremlin propaganda" and making retaliatory accusations. If there is some kind of independent, for example, a satellite monitoring system from the United States, then the claims could no longer be made by the Russian side, but by the Americans. In this case, the Ukrainian side will be forced to respond to these accusations," Andrei Kortunov said.

With recent actions, Kiev has demonstrated the level of its negotiability, Tigran Meloyan noted. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that the Trump administration cannot deal with the Ukrainian issue forever, it has other higher-priority tasks inside the country and at its borders that it must solve in order to be able to retain a majority in the US Congress, the expert emphasized.

Negotiations between the USA and Ukraine

On the eve of the meeting in Saudi Arabia, the Americans held consultations with the delegation of Ukraine. It is noteworthy that they lasted only one hour, and Pavel Palis, Deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, refused to comment on the outcome of the negotiations and to meet with the Russian delegation.

On the evening of March 24, when negotiations were underway, Trump said that territorial issues were being discussed, including possible lines of demarcation, as well as the prospects for the United States to gain control over Ukrainian nuclear power plants. On the one hand, this may indicate Washington's desire to consolidate strategic assets. On the other hand, the transfer of some Ukrainian power plants under American control is able to stabilize the situation around nuclear energy. According to experts, this will also make it possible to establish a dialogue in this area between Moscow and Washington.

At the same time, against the background of a meeting between representatives of the Russian Federation and the United States in Riyadh, Donald Trump announced the approval and imminent signing of a rare earth metals deal with Ukraine.

Meanwhile, US allies, according to Western media, are beginning to doubt the reliability of the NATO nuclear umbrella due to Trump's rapprochement with Moscow. At the same time, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who proposed sending peacekeepers to Ukraine, faced criticism from within the army, who called his plan a "political theater." This reflects the growing split in the West: while some insist on a military scenario, others are still looking for ways to de-escalate.

The talks in Riyadh confirmed that the path to peace in Ukraine lies through a difficult balance of interests. Moscow and Washington are demonstrating their readiness for dialogue, but Kiev, by continuing its provocations, risks disrupting the process. The question now is whether the United States, combining the role of mediator and ally of Ukraine, is able to ensure the implementation of the agreements. As US Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted, "the conflict in Ukraine cannot be resolved through military action." However, without real steps towards compromise, even narrow agreements will remain only on paper.