US-Russian talks begin in Saudi Arabia

Afghan Voice Agency (AVA)-International Service: RT TV channel announced today, Monday, March 24, the start of talks between the US and Russian delegations in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, to resolve the Ukraine crisis.

 

According to the report, the meetings will be held behind closed doors at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, and Saudi security forces asked journalists to leave.

 

According to the Russian state news agency TASS, senior US and Russian representatives are scheduled to meet at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh at 7:00 GMT.

 

The Russian delegation arrived in Saudi Arabia on Sunday evening, headed by Grigory Karasin, chairman of the International Affairs Committee of the Russian Federation Council, and Sergei Besda, advisor to the head of the country's Federal Security Service.

 

Karasin had previously expressed hope that the Russian and American sides could make progress at the Riyadh meeting, which is expected to focus on the Black Sea Initiative.

 

The US delegation reportedly includes Michael Anton, director of policy planning at the State Department, as well as aides to Kate Kellogg, the US special envoy for Ukraine, and Mike Waltz, the country’s national security adviser.

 

The US delegation met with its Ukrainian counterpart in Riyadh on Sunday, and Ukrainian Defense Minister Rustam Amirov described the talks as “productive.”

 

Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Donald Trump spoke by phone on Tuesday, discussing ways to end the conflict in Ukraine, including a 30-day ceasefire, conditions for a de-escalation, and a range of other international issues.

 

One of the highlights of today’s talks is that the hotel where dozens of Saudi princes, senior officials and businessmen were tortured in November 2017 is hosting the US-Russian talks.

 

In November 2017, Saudi authorities detained dozens of princes, senior officials and businessmen at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in what was described as the largest and most controversial “cleansing operation” in the Saudi government’s modern history.

 

The human rights organization Dawn revealed in a report that Mohammed bin Abdulmalek Al-Sheikh, a minister under Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was responsible for torturing the businessmen arrested at the hotel.