Ukraine, US teams hold talks in Saudi Arabia, US envoy hopeful on ending war

By Pavel Polityuk and Pesha Magid

KYIV/RIYADH, March 23 (Reuters) - Ukrainian and U.S. delegations discussed on Sunday proposals to protect energy facilities and critical infrastructure, Ukraine's defence minister said, part of a diplomatic push by U.S. President Donald Trump to end three years of war.

The meeting in Saudi Arabia, which precedes talks on Monday between the U.S. and Russian delegations, came as U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff expressed optimism about the chances for ending Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two.

"I feel that (Russian President Vladimir Putin) wants peace," Witkoff told Fox News on Sunday.

"I think that you're going to see in Saudi Arabia on Monday some real progress, particularly as it affects a Black Sea ceasefire on ships between both countries. And from that, you'll naturally gravitate into a full-on shooting ceasefire."

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said his country's delegation to Sunday's talks was working in "a completely constructive manner", adding: "The conversation is quite useful, the work of the delegations is continuing.

"But no matter what we say to our partners today, we need to get Putin to give a real order to stop the strikes," Zelenskiy said in a televised statement.

Ukraine's delegation was headed by Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, who said the aim of such contacts was helping to "bring a just peace closer and to strengthen security", though Zelenskiy also said Sunday's talks were essentially "technical".

Putin agreed last week to Trump's proposal for Russia and Ukraine to stop attacks on each other's energy infrastructure for 30 days, but that narrowly defined ceasefire was soon cast into doubt, with both sides reporting continued strikes.

A large-scale Russian drone attack on Kyiv overnight killed at least three people, including a 5-year-old child, causing fires in high-rise apartment buildings and damage throughout the capital, Ukrainian officials said on Sunday.

Meanwhile Russian authorities said on Sunday that their air defences had destroyed 59 Ukrainian drones targeting the country's southwestern regions, adding that the strikes had killed one person in Rostov.

Zelenskiy, facing continued advances by Russian troops in eastern Ukraine, has backed Trump's call for a blanket 30-day ceasefire.

'SOMEWHAT UNDER CONTROL'

Trump said on Saturday that efforts to stop further escalation in the Ukraine-Russia war were "somewhat under control". The U.S. hopes to reach a broad ceasefire within weeks, targeting a truce agreement by April 20, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday, citing people familiar with the planning.

White House National Security Adviser Mike Waltz said on Sunday the United States was talking through a range of confidence-building measures aimed at ending the war, including on the future of Ukrainian children taken into Russia.

Asked about the goals for the broader negotiations, Waltz said that after a Black Sea ceasefire was agreed, "we'll talk the line of control, which is the actual front lines".

"And that gets into the details of verification mechanisms, peacekeeping, freezing the lines where they are," Waltz said. "And then of course, the broader and permanent peace."

Trump's contacts with Putin - two publicly announced phone calls but possibly other exchanges too - have spooked European leaders who fear Washington could be turning its back on Europe in the hope of striking a peace deal with Russia as part of some broader grand bargain encompassing oil prices, the Middle East and competition with China.

Britain and France are leading European efforts to beef up military and logistical support for Ukraine, and a number of countries have announced plans to increase defence spending as they try to reduce their reliance on the United States.

However, Witkoff on Sunday played down concerns among Washington's European NATO allies that Putin might be emboldened by any peace deal in Ukraine to invade other neighbours.

"I just don't see that he wants to take all of Europe. This is a much different situation than it was in World War Two," Witkoff said.