Burc Eruygur
24 March 2025•Update: 24 March 2025
ISTANBUL
The Kremlin on Monday said that both Russia and the US want to reach a settlement about the Ukraine war, as delegations from Moscow and Washington are holding a new round of bilateral talks in Saudi Arabia.
“Apparently, we are talking about the desire and readiness of countries to move along the path of a peaceful settlement. There is indeed a common understanding here,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters in the Russian capital.
“In general, of course, there are still many, many different aspects related to the settlement that need to be worked out,” Peskov said.
Reminding that the agenda of the talks is the issue of the Black Sea Grain Initiative, as well as all other topics related to the grain deal’s revival, Peskov noted the issue was proposed by US President Donald Trump and that Putin gave his consent to this. He also said that Putin has not changed his order for Russian forces not to strike Ukrainian energy infrastructure facilities.
"We are monitoring the situation very closely. Well, actually, our American counterparts also have the opportunity to monitor it and draw the appropriate conclusions," Peskov added.
He said that Putin will be immediately informed about the results of the negotiations once the talks conclude.
The Kremlin spokesman’s remarks come as delegations from Moscow and Washington are holding a new round of bilateral talks in the Saudi capital Riyadh, aimed at making progress in finding a settlement to the conflict in Ukraine.
The meeting is aimed "mainly to work out the prospects for the possible implementation of the well-known initiative concerning the safety of navigation in the Black Sea," Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov said in a Kremlin statement on March 20, referring to the Black Sea Grain Initiative.
The grain deal, signed in July 2022 in Istanbul by Türkiye, the UN, Russia, and Ukraine, was aimed at resuming grain exports from Ukrainian ports halted due to the Russia-Ukraine war, which began in February 2022.
On July 17, 2023, Russia withdrew from the deal, saying that the Russian part of the agreement had not been implemented. It sought the loosening of banking restrictions and the ability to ship its fertilizer before returning to the agreement.
