US, Russia plan talks in Saudi Arabia next week addressing Ukraine, Black Sea security

New Delhi, Mar 20: Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has confirmed that Russian representatives will hold talks with their US counterparts in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

The meeting, scheduled to take place within the coming days or early next week, will address Ukraine-related issues, including the safety of shipping in the Black Sea. However, Peskov declined to specify who would represent Russia in the talks.

The announcement comes at the time when the European Union leaders gather in Brussels for a summit on peace in Ukraine, attended by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Peskov meanwhile accused Europe of undermining Russian and US attempts to pursue what he called a “peaceful settlement” to the conflict.

He even went on to say that Europe has embarked on militarising itself and turned into a party of war, during a press briefing, adding that such plans contradict the stated intentions of Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump to pursue peace talks.

In parallel diplomatic efforts, the United Kingdom is convening a closed-door meeting of senior military officers to explore the feasibility of a peacekeeping force in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, violence continued overnight. Russian authorities reported that a Ukrainian drone attack targeted a key airfield in Engels, located in Russia’s Saratov region. The strike injured at least two people and triggered a state of emergency, according to Russian state media. Separately, the regional governor in Donetsk confirmed that a Ukrainian man was killed and two others injured in a Russian strike on the city of Kostyantynivka.

Against this backdrop, the White House revealed that US ownership of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was discussed during a phone call between President Trump and Zelensky on Wednesday. The plant remains under Russian presently.

This series of diplomatic activity follows phone calls by President Trump to both Putin and Zelensky, marking the most sustained US effort to broker peace since Russia’s invasion three years ago. Despite Trump’s framing of the talks as a diplomatic breakthrough, early signs suggest otherwise. Putin rejected Trump’s proposal for a 30-day ceasefire, highlighting Russia’s reluctance to halt its military campaign, but accepted not to attack the energy plants. The Kremlin appears unwilling to disengage yet is keen to maintain warm relations with Trump. Both Kyiv and Moscow are striving to win Trump’s favour while blaming each other for hampering peace efforts. After a violent night, each side accused the other of breaching a partial agreement brokered by Trump to avoid strikes on energy infrastructure thus highlighting the fragile nature of the diplomatic efforts unfolding on multiple fronts.