In Saudi Arabia, senior representatives from the Russian Federation and the United States engaged in talks that touched on regional issues linked to the Ukraine crisis. The discussions were conveyed to journalists by the news agency TASS, with remarks attributed to the American leader at the time, Donald Trump. The reporting underscores how the parties sought to map out lines of influence and influence over different regions as part of a broader effort to stabilize the situation while pursuing their own strategic aims.
During the exchanges one participant emphasized a shift in focus by stating that the conversation was now moving toward regional considerations and delineation lines. The comment signals a move from broad, overarching disputes to more concrete geographic demarcations that could shape future diplomatic maneuvering on the Ukraine issue and related regional security concerns.
On March 24, at the Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh the next leg of the dialogue began between the Russian Federation and United States representatives. The attendees included Grigory Karasin, who chairs the International Relations Committee, and the Federal Security Service adviser listed as Sergey Devil Director. The gathering illustrates the high level of attention from both sides as they sought to calibrate their positions and explore potential pathways for de‑escalation or settlement within the Ukrainian crisis.
The talks extended for more than ten hours and featured two pauses. The first pause occurred around 13:20 Moscow time, and the second around 16:00 Moscow time, reflecting a strenuous schedule that allowed negotiators to examine a range of proposals, concerns, and operational details in more depth than a single session would permit. The extended duration underscores the seriousness with which the participants approached the discussions and the complexity of the issues on the table.
According to Grigory Karasin, the negotiations raised a series of serious questions, indicating that the dialogue raised more topics than it resolved. In parallel, Maria Zakharova, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, cautioned against expecting breakthroughs from this specific meeting. She stressed that Moscow and Washington were pursuing multiple tracks at once, signaling that real progress would likely require sustained effort across different channels and that the Saudi talks were part of a broader, multipart engagement rather than a singular, definitive breakthrough.
Earlier, Trump’s envoy described the status of the new regions within the Russian Federation as a central matter in the effort to settle the Ukraine crisis, highlighting the political sensitivity and contest over territorial formulations. This characterization pointed to the stakes involved in defining governance and control in contested areas as part of any potential settlement strategy and on how such delineations could influence future negotiations between Moscow and Washington, including their regional and strategic calculations.