Moscow blames Ukraine for deadlock over ceasefire deal talks

Russia on Tuesday blamed Ukraine for the deadlock in ceasefire deal talks in the last 24 hours, with the defense ministry accusing Kyiv of carrying out attacks on its energy infrastructure in breach of an earlier agreement to cease such attacks.

Russia’s defense ministry accused Ukraine of attacking a power grid on Russian territory on Monday, as well as gas facilities in Russian-occupied Luhansk and Crimea in Ukraine, claiming this showed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “inability to negotiate” and comply with “any possible agreements.”

U.S and Russian officials had been expected to release a joint statement on Tuesday after a day of talks between delegates in Saudi Arabia on Monday, amid ongoing discussions to broker a full 30-day ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine after three years of war.

Ukrainian officials then held their own talks with American officials in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday morning, but have not yet commented on the discussions that lasted for around an hour.

There has been no joint statement from either Russian and U.S. officials, as expected, or from U.S. and Ukrainian diplomats following their separate talks.

Ukraine has not commented on the Russian defense ministry’s claims and said Monday that Russian forces had carried out deadly drone and missile strikes while it was holding held talks with U.S. officials.

Both Ukraine and Russia agreed last week to pause attacks on each others’ energy facilities as a step toward a total ceasefire, but both have accused each other of breaking the agreement since then.

Earlier on Tuesday, the Kremlin said that it would not disclose the content of ceasefire deal talks with U.S. officials.

“Those were “technical” talks so the content of these talks won’t be made public for sure. But I again repeat that the results are being assessed by Moscow and Washington and then we can speak of some statements,” Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov told reporters Tuesday, according to comments translated by NBC News.

Peskov added that there were no immediate plans for another call between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump. The Kremlin official said contacts would continue between the Russian and U.S. diplomats, however.

The Monday talks appeared to focus on a maritime ceasefire deal covering the Black Sea — one of the focal points for hostilities during the war, which led to disruption in the shipping of regional agricultural and grain exports that caused turmoil in global supply chains.

Earlier Tuesday, Russian state media quoted a senior Russian official as stating that the discussions — which lasted 12 hours — had been “detailed and complex.”

“[We] discussed everything, and the dialogue was detailed and complex but quite useful for us and for the Americans,” Grigory Karasin, chairman of the Federation Council Committee on International Affairs, who took part in the negotiations, told Russia’s state-owned Tass news agency.

“We discussed numerous issues,” he added, the agency said. The BBC reported that Moscow was believed to be asking for some Western sanctions to be lifted in order to revive the grain deal, which Russia withdrew from in mid-2023.

Ukraine previously already agreed to a 30-day ceasefire deal during its own talks with U.S. officials and accused Russia of being “manipulative” by delaying a possible truce.

Ukrainian and U.S. delegations also met in Saudi Arabia for talks on Tuesday, but the discussions appeared short-lived and ended on Tuesday morning, according to AFP reporting.

This is the second U.S.-Ukrainian rapprochement over the ceasefire in as many days. On Monday evening, Zelenskyy said officials in Kyiv had once again talked with their American counterparts over a potential agreement.

“Today, we held meetings focused on diplomatic efforts. I spoke with [Ukrainian Minister of Defense] Rustem Umerov. Yesterday there was a meeting with the U.S. team. Today, U.S. representatives spoke with the war team — that is, with representatives of Russia. After that, another meeting took place between the Ukrainian and American teams. I’m expecting a new report soon,” Zelenskyy said on the X social media platform.

Kyiv has stressed that its European allies must be involved in any future peace deal, but Moscow and Washington have expressed skepticism over their participation.

“What we need is movement toward real peace—toward guaranteed security. And this is something we all need — in Ukraine, in Europe, in America, and across the world—everyone who wants stability in international relations,” Zelenskyy said. The Ukrainian leader has previously repeatedly called for security guarantees as part of permanent peace arrangements.

For his part, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin earlier this month said that any ceasefire deal must not allow Ukraine to re-arm, demanding that weapons shipments be halted to Kyiv during any pause in the fighting.