A Ukrainian serviceman evacuates a woman from an apartment building hit by a Russian missile strike in Sumy, on March 24.Stringer/Reuters
A Russian missile strike damaged a school and a hospital in Ukraine on Monday, wounding at least 74 people, as U.S. and Russian officials discussed a narrow proposal for a ceasefire at sea in the hope it could lead to wider peace talks.
The talks in Saudi Arabia, where a Ukrainian delegation was present on the sidelines, so far have only modest objectives but are being presented by Washington as a step in President Donald Trump’s effort to end the three-year-old war.
Mr. Trump himself listed other issues he said were on the table: “We’re talking about territory right now. We’re talking about lines of demarcation, talking about power, power plant ownership.”
The Russian state news agency RIA, citing an unidentified source, said the delegations would release a joint statement after their consultations. A Russian source in Riyadh told Reuters the talks would end shortly.
Analysis: Putin and Zelensky are playing the same bluff on ceasefire talks to appease Trump
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said no documents would be signed, however, the TASS agency reported.
Last week, Russia rejected a proposal by Mr. Trump for a full 30-day ceasefire in Ukraine, and it has so far agreed only to a moratorium on attacking energy infrastructure.
As Monday’s talks were under way in Saudi Arabia, Russian missiles struck the city of Sumy in northeastern Ukraine. Several high-rise residential blocks were damaged along with a school and hospital, regional governor Volodymyr Artiukh said in a video filmed in front of a blaze producing a column of smoke.
The schoolchildren were in a shelter at the time, averting worse casualties, he added.
Russian troops launched a missile strike in Sumy city centre on March 24, hitting residential buildings and a school. Children at the school were being evacuated, and all were safe, said regional head Volodymyr Artiukh.
The Associated Press
“Moscow speaks of peace while carrying out brutal strikes on densely populated residential areas in major Ukrainian cities,” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said.
“Instead of making hollow statements about peace, Russia must stop bombing our cities and end its war on civilians.”
The talks in Saudi Arabia follow phone calls last week between Mr. Trump and the two presidents, Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and Vladimir Putin of Russia. Ukrainian officials met the Americans in Saudi Arabia on Sunday.
Mr. Trump, who has scaled back U.S. diplomatic backing for Ukraine and shifted publicly to a stance far less critical of Russia than that of his predecessor Joe Biden, says he aims to bring a quick end to the war.
But although Ukraine had previously agreed to Mr. Trump’s proposal for a ceasefire, Mr. Putin agreed only to pause attacks on energy targets. Kyiv then said it would also accept a moratorium on hitting energy targets if a formal document is signed.
Even as the talks have unfolded, Moscow has launched three straight nights of air attacks on Kyiv, filling the air above the capital with anti-aircraft fire. One person was wounded and homes were damaged in the surrounding region.
Russia, for its part, said it had downed 227 Ukrainian drones in the last 24 hours. Firefighters in its southern Krasnodar region also battled for a fifth day to put out a blaze at an oil depot struck in a Ukrainian drone attack last week.
The White House says the initial aim of the Saudi talks is to secure a maritime truce in the Black Sea, allowing the free flow of shipping.
But maritime battles have been a comparatively limited facet of the war since 2023, after Ukrainian attacks drove Moscow to move its navy far from contested waters, making it possible for Ukraine to reopen ports and resume exports at near-pre-war volumes.
“This is primarily about the safety of navigation,” Mr. Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, said. He said a previous UN-backed agreement on Black Sea shipping had failed to deliver some of Moscow’s demands.
A source briefed on planning for the Saudi 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.
Russia was represented by Grigory Karasin, a former diplomat who is now chair of the Russian upper house’s Foreign Affairs Committee.
Mr. Karasin was cited by Interfax news agency as saying during a break after nearly three hours of talks that they were progressing “creatively” and that the two sides had discussed issues regarded as “irritants” in bilateral ties.
Trump has expressed broad satisfaction over the way talks have been going and has been complimentary about Mr. Putin’s engagement.
But major European powers doubt whether Mr. Putin is ready to make real concessions or will stick to what they see as his maximalist demands, which do not appear to have changed since he sent troops into Ukraine in 2022.
Mr. Putin says he is ready to discuss peace but that Ukraine must officially drop its NATO ambitions and withdraw its troops from the entirety of four Ukrainian regions that Russia has unilaterally annexed.
White House national security adviser Mike Waltz told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that the U.S., Russian and Ukrainian delegations were assembled in the same facility in Riyadh.
Beyond a Black Sea ceasefire, Mr. Waltz said the teams would discuss the “line of control” between the two armies, which he described as “verification measures, peacekeeping, freezing the lines where they are.”
Saudi state TV said on Monday that Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov had arrived in Saudi Arabia, a possible indication that the U.S. delegation planned to hold further talks with Ukraine after its consultations with Russia conclude.