President Donald Trump’s assurances of a swift resolution to the conflict in Ukraine faced a stark reality check on Tuesday, as Russian officials announced that the latest round of ceasefire negotiations with the United States concluded without a formal agreement, while the Kremlin persisted in its bombardment of Ukraine.
The media had been informed to anticipate a statement following talks in Saudi Arabia, yet no such written conclusion emerged. In a discussion with Russian state television, Vladimir Chizhov, the first deputy chairman of Russia’s defense committee, attributed the lack of agreement to Ukraine’s stance.
“They sat for 12 hours and seemingly reached a consensus on a joint statement,” Chizhov told Rossiya 24. “However, this was not approved due to Ukraine’s position,” he remarked, describing the delay as “very characteristic and symptomatic.”
The White House has yet to respond to NBC News’ inquiry regarding the outcome of the discussions.
While both parties have theoretically consented to a temporary, 30-day ceasefire, Russian President Vladimir Putin has stipulated conditions that would essentially equate to a surrender by Ukraine. Meanwhile, Kyiv asserts that the Kremlin is evidently uninterested in peace, given its ongoing large-scale drone assaults against the country.
Russian Foreign Ministry / AFP – Getty Images
Earlier on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov informed reporters that there were no immediate plans for another conversation between Putin and Trump.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is still tallying the casualties from an attack a day prior in Sumy — which targeted a densely populated residential area, a children’s hospital, and a school — with authorities reporting 101 injuries, including 23 children.
Ukrainian officials reported that Russia launched 139 Iran-designed Shahed drones at Ukraine overnight. While 78 were intercepted, others inflicted damage in the regions of Kharkiv, Sumy, Poltava, Kirovohrad, Kyiv, Cherkasy, and Odessa.
“Rather than issuing empty statements regarding peace, Russia must cease its bombardments of our cities and halt its aggression against civilians,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha stated on Monday. “Any diplomacy involving Moscow should be supported by military strength, sanctions, and pressure.”
Three years post-invasion by Putin, Ukraine has also carried out retaliatory strikes on targets linked to the Kremlin’s military objectives. On Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced it had downed a Ukrainian drone aimed at an oil pumping facility that supports the country’s energy exports.
The ministry claimed that drone attacks initiated by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy “highlight his inability to negotiate.” It added, “The Kyiv regime continues to deliberately plan, prepare and execute assaults on energy infrastructure.”
Despite agreeing in principle to a limited ceasefire earlier this month, Russia and Ukraine have maintained their mutual bombardment. The Kremlin has made demands that essentially require a Ukrainian surrender.
Statements regarding the terms of the ceasefire have varied slightly, with U.S. accounts mentioning “energy and infrastructure,” while Moscow referenced only “energy infrastructure.”
U.S. and Russian negotiators have also provided contrasting narratives regarding the progress of the dialogue.
While Moscow’s delegates have seemed cautious, American officials have expressed optimism about the discussions held in Saudi Arabia, even as a parallel ceasefire agreement facilitated by the White House in the Gaza Strip has unraveled.
Grigorii Karasin, one of the leaders of Russia’s delegation in Riyadh, was more optimistic, describing the talks as “very useful.”
“We covered a lot of ground; it was a busy dialogue, not an easy one, but very useful for us and for the Americans,” he told Russia’s state-controlled Tass news agency on Tuesday.
“Of course, not everything was resolved, not everything was settled,” he noted.
One topic under discussion is the “Black Sea Initiative,” which aimed to facilitate Ukraine’s grain exports while minimizing the impact of sanctions on Russian food and fertilizer shipments. Moscow terminated this arrangement in 2023, citing non-compliance by Western nations with the second part of the agreement.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that Russia would require “clear guarantees” to reinstate the agreement, asserting that these “guarantees can only come from an instruction from Washington to Zelenskyy.”
Trump disclosed to reporters in the Oval Office on Monday that territorial matters and “lines of demarcation” were among the subjects addressed in Riyadh, in addition to a U.S. proposal for control over a vital nuclear plant in Ukraine.
“They are discussing ownership of the major nuclear power plant in particular,” he stated. “I would be fine with something like that,” he remarked, referring to it as a “great meeting.”
In the meantime, Zelenskyy provided his most detailed account yet of the notable Oval Office confrontation involving himself, Trump, and Vice President JD Vance last month.
He shared with Time magazine in an interview published on Monday that he was “defending the dignity of Ukraine” during that exchange.
