London – American and Russian negotiators were determined to meet again in Saudi Arabia on Monday when the White House continued its encouragement for a ceasefire and finally a peaceful agreement to end the 3 -year -old Moscow War in Ukraine.
The proposed pause on strikes targeting energy infrastructure is expected to be one of the topics of discussion, with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has shown their support – at least in principle – for the plan.
The Tass News Agency managed by the Russian government reported that the American and Russian teams began talks behind the door in Riyadh on Monday morning.
Middle Eastern Delegation President Donald Trump Steve Witkoff – who has become the center of talks with Moscow and Kyiv – expressed hopes for progress on Sunday, told Fox News that “Peace Philosophy through the strength of the President brought people to the table to clear the misunderstanding and complete the peace agreement.”
“I’m not sure how people will expect the end of the conflict when you do not communicate,” said Witkoff.
A picture taken on March 23, 2025 shows the view of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where talks are taking place with US mediation to try to achieve a ceasefire in the Russian-Ukraine War.
Fayez Nureldine/AFP Via Getty Images
The US-Russian meeting on Monday came after a meeting between the American team and Ukraine in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday. Zelenskyy said on Sunday night that he had been given a briefing about the discussion “quite useful” by the Minister of Defense Rustem Umerov, who took part.
“But no matter what we discuss with our current partners, Putin must be encouraged to issue real orders to stop the strike – because the person who brought this war must be the person who took it back,” Zelenskyy said, referring to Moscow’s advanced missiles and drone attacks throughout the country. Ukraine also continued the long -distance drone attack on Russia.
But other comments made by Witkoff during the weekend again tickled concerns in Ukraine and in other places that Trump’s administration aligned itself with the wrong or misleading Russian narrative about the campaign to interfere and aggressively for decades in Ukraine.
Discussing the territory of Ukraine is partially occupied and claimed to be attached by Russia since 2022-Donetsk, Luhanansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson-added Crimean Where are the people below.
Witkoff did not recognize that the referendum that should have been held in the regions – whether in 2014 in the case of Crimea or 2022 in other regions – was widely dismissed by Western forces, human rights organizations and international bodies as fraud and invalid.
In September 2022, State Secretary Antony Blinken said the US “no, and will never, recognize one of the Kremlin claims for the sovereignty of several parts of the Ukraine which was confiscated by force and is now intended to be included in Russia.”
Witkoff also heralded a clear warm relationship between Trump and Putin, told Carlson that the Russian leader claimed to have prayed for Trump’s “friend” after the murder of the President in July 2024. Putin also gave Trump’s portrait witkoff as a gift, he said.
“This is a type of connection that we can rebuild through a simple word called communication, which many people say I should not have because Putin is a bad person,” said Witkoff. “I don’t think of Putin as a bad person.”
A firefighter worked on an apartment building site hit by a Russian drone attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on March 23, 2025.
Vladyslav Musiiienko/Reuters
The deadly cross -border drone attack continued throughout the weekend. On Sunday night to Monday morning, the Ukraine Air Force said Russia launched 99 drones to the country, of which 93 were shot down or lost on flights without causing damage.
The Russian air defense fell down 28 drones shooting into Russia’s territory by Ukraine, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense.
ABC News’ Yuriy Zaliznyak, Victoria Beauty, Anna Sergeeva and Guy Davies contributed to this report.