19 Mar, 16:31

Russian, US expert teams to discuss Ukraine in Riyadh in coming days — envoy

According to Mike Waltz, the sides are "to focus on implementing and expanding the partial ceasefire President Trump secured from Russia"

US national security adviser Mike Waltz Kayla Bartkowski/ Getty Images

US national security adviser Mike Waltz

© Kayla Bartkowski/ Getty Images

WASHINGTON, March 19. /TASS/. US national security adviser Mike Waltz said he and Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov agreed during a telephone conversation that the expert teams of the two countries will meet in Riyadh in the coming days to discuss a partial ceasefire in Ukraine.

"I spoke today with my Russian counterpart Yury Ushakov about [US] President [Donald] Trump’s efforts to end the war in Ukraine. We agreed our technical teams would meet in Riyadh in the coming days to focus on implementing and expanding the partial ceasefire President Trump secured from Russia," Waltz wrote on his X page.

Earlier, he told reporters at the White House that he did not discuss Western military aid to Ukraine in his current conversation with his Russian counterpart.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump discussed the situation in Ukraine, conditions for avoiding escalation and a number of international issues by telephone on March 18. According to the Kremlin press service, Putin agreed with the US leader's proposal that the parties to the conflict in Ukraine mutually refrain from attacks on energy infrastructure facilities for 30 days. According to the White House, the sides also agreed to begin technical talks on the introduction of a ceasefire in the Black Sea. A key condition for working to resolve the conflict should be "a complete halt to foreign military assistance and the provision of intelligence information to Kiev," the Kremlin emphasized.

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