US talks with Russia begin in Saudi Arabia eyeing Black Sea ceasefire

U.S. and Russian officials began talks in Saudi Arabia on Monday aimed at making progress towards a broad ceasefire in Ukraine with Washington eyeing a Black Sea ceasefire deal before securing a wider agreement.

The talks, which followed U.S. talks with Ukraine on Sunday, come as U.S. President Donald Trump intensifies his drive to end the three-year-old conflict after he last week spoke to both Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A source briefed on the planning for the talks said the U.S. side was being led by Andrew Peek, a senior director at the White House National Security Council, and Michael Anton, a senior State Department official.

The White House says the aim of the talks is to reach a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, allowing the free flow of shipping.

Russia will be represented by Grigory Karasin, a former diplomat who is now chair of the Federation Council's Foreign Affairs Committee, and Sergei Beseda, an adviser to the director of the Federal Security Service.

U.S. President Donald 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.

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, Trump's Middle East envoy 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 neighbors.

"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.