US-Russia talks on Ukraine ‘useful,’ will continue: Russian negotiator

A Russian negotiator said on Tuesday that Moscow would continue “useful” talks with the United States over the Ukraine conflict and would aim to involve the UN and other countries. “We talked about everything, it was an intense dialogue, not easy, but very useful for us and the Americans,” Grigory Karasin told the state TASS news agency, adding that “lots of problems were discussed.”

“Of course, we are far from solving everything, from being in agreement on all points, but it seems that this type of discussion is very timely,” he said. “We will continue doing it, adding in the international community, above all the United Nations and certain countries,” Karasin added.

He spoke a day after the US and Russian teams held 12 hours of talks in a luxury hotel in Saudi Arabia. Earlier, TASS cited a source saying that a joint statement on the talks would be published on Tuesday.

President Donald Trump is pushing for a rapid end to the three-year war and hopes the latest round of talks in the Saudi capital will pave the way for a breakthrough.

The Ukrainian negotiating team was staying in Riyadh for another day to meet with US representatives, a source in the delegation told Suspilne News, with another source also telling AFP that a second meeting was likely—a sign that progress may have been made.