The Prague Post - US, Russia talks on Ukraine ceasefire wrap up as fresh fighting rages

EUR -
AED 4.303525
AFN 78.617414
ALL 97.164944
AMD 448.314531
ANG 2.098038
AOA 1074.563153
ARS 1675.437182
AUD 1.770502
AWG 1.647878
AZN 2.001417
BAM 1.96423
BBD 2.359225
BDT 142.652241
BGN 1.955749
BHD 0.441787
BIF 3453.072706
BMD 1.171824
BND 1.515941
BOB 8.123692
BRL 6.237154
BSD 1.171327
BTN 103.976816
BWP 15.612674
BYN 3.973956
BYR 22967.755984
BZD 2.35571
CAD 1.634683
CDF 2970.574474
CHF 0.931723
CLF 0.028729
CLP 1127.01392
CNY 8.342804
CNH 8.36989
COP 4513.070305
CRC 588.726722
CUC 1.171824
CUP 31.053344
CVE 110.74028
CZK 24.315998
DJF 208.590789
DKK 7.465095
DOP 73.304612
DZD 151.945721
EGP 55.765826
ERN 17.577364
ETB 170.430424
FJD 2.638717
FKP 0.869717
GBP 0.869335
GEL 3.193164
GGP 0.869717
GHS 14.759029
GIP 0.869717
GMD 86.126231
GNF 10160.607725
GTQ 8.978534
GYD 244.996258
HKD 9.119599
HNL 30.758009
HRK 7.537173
HTG 153.277844
HUF 388.740871
IDR 19450.701167
ILS 3.837988
IMP 0.869717
INR 103.95845
IQD 1534.485771
IRR 49275.210938
ISK 141.801942
JEP 0.869717
JMD 187.66543
JOD 0.830798
JPY 175.760735
KES 151.404058
KGS 102.476383
KHR 4699.067405
KMF 492.166222
KPW 1054.643623
KRW 1651.715647
KWD 0.358672
KYD 0.976169
KZT 637.428545
LAK 25386.873233
LBP 104893.448303
LKR 354.220257
LRD 212.597901
LSL 20.230125
LTL 3.460092
LVL 0.708825
LYD 6.345233
MAD 10.698416
MDL 19.637864
MGA 5222.189992
MKD 61.67786
MMK 2460.818678
MNT 4213.280628
MOP 9.391105
MRU 46.772741
MUR 53.13055
MVR 17.94424
MWK 2031.0302
MXN 21.52606
MYR 4.939274
MZN 74.883597
NAD 20.230125
NGN 1719.675176
NIO 43.105
NOK 11.62946
NPR 166.362905
NZD 2.006843
OMR 0.450564
PAB 1.171277
PEN 4.056108
PGK 4.914091
PHP 68.247594
PKR 331.847738
PLN 4.255328
PYG 8205.21549
QAR 4.269625
RON 5.090874
RSD 117.158461
RUB 97.408344
RWF 1699.658405
SAR 4.395248
SBD 9.645298
SCR 16.701
SDG 704.858518
SEK 10.986316
SGD 1.512784
SHP 0.92087
SLE 27.315474
SLL 24572.573636
SOS 669.444586
SRD 44.652366
STD 24254.396794
STN 24.605603
SVC 10.248987
SYP 15236.042043
SZL 20.211884
THB 37.945423
TJS 10.928571
TMT 4.101385
TND 3.423292
TOP 2.744528
TRY 48.857555
TTD 7.939737
TWD 35.704303
TZS 2876.828469
UAH 48.389078
UGX 4043.353435
USD 1.171824
UYU 46.770733
UZS 14127.633574
VES 216.982661
VND 30895.147271
VUV 141.446651
WST 3.261415
XAF 658.756169
XAG 0.024054
XAU 0.000296
XCD 3.166913
XCG 2.11106
XDR 0.8159
XOF 658.784399
XPF 119.331742
YER 280.124834
ZAR 20.159015
ZMK 10547.827748
ZMW 27.907178
ZWL 377.326942
  • CMSC

    -0.0700

    23.8

    -0.29%

  • BCE

    -0.2000

    23.16

    -0.86%

  • CMSD

    -0.0900

    24.36

    -0.37%

  • BCC

    -1.9400

    75.69

    -2.56%

  • NGG

    0.3700

    73.8

    +0.5%

  • JRI

    -0.0520

    14.248

    -0.36%

  • RIO

    1.1200

    67.23

    +1.67%

  • SCS

    -0.1250

    16.985

    -0.74%

  • RELX

    0.3450

    46.755

    +0.74%

  • VOD

    -0.0800

    11.28

    -0.71%

  • GSK

    0.2500

    43.6

    +0.57%

  • RBGPF

    -2.2200

    76

    -2.92%

  • BTI

    -0.2050

    51.035

    -0.4%

  • AZN

    0.5700

    85.88

    +0.66%

  • BP

    0.7400

    34.9

    +2.12%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0900

    15.67

    -0.57%

US, Russia talks on Ukraine ceasefire wrap up as fresh fighting rages

US, Russia talks on Ukraine ceasefire wrap up as fresh fighting rages

A meeting between Russian and US officials on a partial ceasefire in Ukraine ended after 12 hours of negotiations in Saudi Arabia, Russian state media said, as both sides in the conflict reported a wave of fresh attacks.

Text size:

While the talks took place at a luxury hotel in Riyadh, nearly 90 people including 17 children were wounded in a missile attack Monday on Sumy in northeastern Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

The attack on a "densely populated residential area" damaged apartments and an educational facility, the regional prosecutor's office said. The city's acting mayor earlier said a hospital had been affected.

Russian media meanwhile said two journalists and their driver were killed when their car was struck "in the zone of the special military operation", using Moscow's term for its full-scale offensive in Ukraine.

President Donald Trump is pushing for a rapid end to the three-year war and hopes the latest round of talks in the Saudi capital will pave the way for a breakthrough.

The Ukrainian negotiating team was staying in Riyadh for another day to meet with US representatives, a source in the delegation told Suspilne news, with another source also telling AFP a second meeting was likely -- a sign that progress may have been made.

Russia's state-run TASS news agency cited a source as saying that the meeting with the US had ended after "more than 12 hours of consultations" and that a joint statement on the results would be published Tuesday.

- 'Trump's proposal' -

At a previous round of talks this month in Jeddah -- days after Zelensky's White House dressing-down by Trump -- Kyiv agreed to a US-proposed 30-day ceasefire that was subsequently rejected by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Officials are now studying a possible resumption of the Black Sea Initiative, an agreement that allowed millions of tonnes of grain and other food exports to be shipped from Ukraine's ports.

"The issue of the Black Sea Initiative and all aspects related to the renewal of this initiative is on the agenda today," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in his daily briefing.

"This was President Trump's proposal and President Putin agreed to it. It was with this mandate that our delegation travelled to Riyadh."

US-Ukraine and US-Russia talks were originally planned to take place simultaneously to enable shuttle diplomacy, with the United States going back and forth between the delegations, but they are now taking place one after the other.

Ukraine's Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, who heads the Ukrainian team, said Sunday's talks with the United States were "productive and focused".

Trump envoy Steve Witkoff has voiced optimism that any agreement would pave the way for a "full-on" ceasefire.

"I think you're going to see in Saudi Arabia on Monday some real progress, particularly as it affects a Black Sea ceasefire on ships between both countries," he told Fox News.

"And from that you'll naturally gravitate to a full-on shooting ceasefire."

- 'Only at the beginning' -

The Kremlin has downplayed expectations of a rapid resolution.

"We are only at the beginning of this path," Peskov told Russian state TV on Sunday, adding: "There are difficult negotiations ahead."

When Putin, in a lengthy phone call with Trump, rebuffed the joint US-Ukrainian call for a full and immediate 30-day pause, he proposed instead a halt in attacks on energy facilities.

The traditional adversaries are now discussing the return of the Black Sea Initiative, which was originally brokered by Turkey and the United Nations in 2022.

Russia pulled out of the agreement in 2023, accusing the West of failing to uphold its commitments to ease sanctions on Russia's own exports of farm produce and fertilisers.

A senior Ukrainian official previously told AFP that Kyiv would propose a broader ceasefire, covering attacks on energy facilities, infrastructure and naval strikes.

- 'Mutually beneficial' -

Before the missile strike on Sumy, both sides had launched fresh drone attacks on the eve of the negotiations.

And Ukraine's national railway operator said Monday it was countering a sophisticated cyberattack for the second day running.

Moscow headed into the Saudi talks after a rapprochement with Washington under Trump that boosted the Kremlin's confidence.

Peskov said Sunday that the "potential for mutually beneficial cooperation in a wide variety of spheres between our countries cannot be overstated".

"We may disagree on some things but that does not mean we should deprive ourselves of mutual benefit," he added.

Meanwhile, British and French defence chiefs met in London to discuss plans for allied countries to safeguard any ceasefire deal as part of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's so-called "coalition of the willing".

Questions remain over what shape such an initiative might take, but Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have voiced willingness to put British and French troops on the ground in Ukraine.

"If there is a deal, it's a deal that has to be defended," Starmer's spokesman said.

C.Sramek--TPP