RIYADH
US, Ukraine in fresh round of talks on halting war
Ukrainian and U.S. officials were holding another round of talks on Tuesday in Riyadh, a Ukrainian source said, a day after a lengthy meeting between the U.S. and Russian delegations on a partial ceasefire in Ukraine.
"We are still working with the Americans," a member of the Ukrainian delegation told a small group of media including AFP.
A meeting between Russian and U.S. 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.
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.
A Russian negotiator said on Tuesday that Moscow would continue "useful" talks with the United States over the Ukraine conflict and would aim to involve the U.N. and other countries.
"We talked about everything, it was an intense dialogue, not easy, but very useful for us and the Americans," Grigory Karasin, told the state TASS news agency, adding that "lots of problems were discussed".
"Of course we are far from solving everything, from being in agreement on all points, but it seems that this type of discussion is very timely," he said.
"We will continue doing it, adding in the international community, above all the United Nations and certain countries," Karasin said.
He spoke a day after the U.S. and Russian teams held 12 hours of talks in a luxury hotel in Saudi Arabia.
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.
Earlier, TASS cited a source saying that a joint statement on the talks would be published on Tuesday.