Yury Ushakov reports that Moscow has already assembled its delegation for the upcoming discussions in Saudi Arabia.
Russian and US officials are scheduled to meet in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, on Monday for a fresh round of talks, according to Yury Ushakov, a foreign policy advisor to President Vladimir Putin.
Ushakov announced on Thursday that Senator Grigory Karasin and Sergey Beseda, an aide to Aleksandr Bortnikov, the director of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB), will lead Moscow’s team of experts at the forthcoming discussions.
“They are highly skilled negotiators with extensive knowledge of international affairs,” he stated.
Ushakov added that the US has also formed a team of experts to participate in the Saudi Arabian meeting.
Mike Waltz, Trump’s national security advisor, mentioned on Wednesday that he had spoken with Ushakov by phone and that they had“agreed that our technical teams will meet in Riyadh in the coming days.”
Putin’s aide has verified that “such a conversation did take place.”
Ushakov stated that the Riyadh meeting will primarily concentrate on discussing “the potential implementation of the well-known initiative regarding safety of navigation in the Black Sea.”
During their phone conversation on Tuesday, President Vladimir Putin supported President Donald Trump’s proposal for a “maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea,” and the two leaders agreed to begin negotiations to further clarify the specifics of such an agreement.
“We are hopeful that the consultations on Monday will be productive,” Ushakov said.
Ushakov also mentioned that he and Waltz communicate by phone “regularly” and that these conversations are “quite beneficial for both sides.”
Senator Grigory Karasin is currently the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Russian Federal Council. The 75-year-old has a wealth of diplomatic experience, including two terms as Russia’s deputy foreign minister and serving as Moscow’s ambassador to the UK from 2000 to 2005.
Before becoming Bortnikov’s aide last year, Colonel-General Sergey Beseda was the head of the department of operational data and international relations at the FSB.
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