Ukraine: a Putin advisor announces new American-Russian talks on Monday in Ryad

While Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump spoke for a long time by phone on Tuesday on the American truce project in Ukraine, Russian and American officials will meet on Monday in Ryad, Saudi Arabia, to discuss the conflict, said the diplomatic advisor to Vladimir Putin, Iouri Ouchakov on Thursday. This meeting was mentioned with Donald Trump’s national security advisor Mike Waltz.

On this occasion, the two countries will bring together “groups of experts” to evoke “safety of navigation in the Black Sea”, Russian. The White House is looking to get a sea cease-fire there. Russia will be represented by Grigori Karassine, president of the International Affairs Committee of the Upper Chamber of the Russian Parliament, and Sergei Besseda, senior security of Russian security services (FSB), according to Iouri Ouchakov. “These are really experienced negotiators and very much aware of international questions,” he greeted.

Their profile is nevertheless very different from that of the Russian emissaries sent to negotiate with US officials last February. The chief of diplomacy Sergei Lavrov and the advisor Iouri Ouchakov then went to Saudi Arabia themselves.

A “very problematic” Russian emissary

Ukrainian military intelligence chief Kyrylo Boudanov, said in 2023 that Sergei Besseda was “a very problematic person”. “He has done a lot of wrong to Ukraine,” he said, quoted in the Ukrainian press. Sergei Besseda seems to have experienced a period of disgrace at the start of the Russian assault against Ukraine in 2022.

According to media, the manager was responsible for informing Russia on the political climate in Ukraine at the time. Journalists had even announced his arrest in 2022, which the authorities had not confirmed. “For a while, he was suspended from his duties (…) Now he is back to work,” said Kyrylo Boudanov in 2023.

Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday that his country officials were ready to meet an American team in Saudi Arabia “in the coming days”, without giving more details.