24.03.2025 – 28.03.2025 (Weekly Presents)

Russia hopes to make some progress at talks in Saudi Arabia on March 24, a Russian negotiator told state media.

The Russian negotiator’s remarks came 48 hours before the United States is set to hold talks with Russia and Ukraine to end the more than three-year-old war in Ukraine.

Russia has rejected a joint proposal by the United States and Ukraine for a 30-day unconditional ceasefire.

Instead, Russia has proposed a halt to air strikes on power plants.

Despite the offer, both sides have continued to carry out attacks ahead of the talks.

Three people were killed in a Russian airstrike on the southern Ukrainian city of Zaporizhia on the evening of March 21, when the Russians struck the same family. Ukrainian officials are outraged by the deaths of the three.

The U.S. negotiators are scheduled to meet separately in Saudi Arabia on March 24 with Ukrainian and Russian delegations, who will have to travel back and forth between hotel rooms, a move that U.S. Ambassador Kate Kellogg called a back-and-forth diplomatic effort.

Despite diplomatic efforts and pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump, a ceasefire agreement remains elusive.

“We hope to make at least some progress,” Russian senator Grigory Kharatsin told Zvezda television. He is leading the Russian delegation.

Ukraine, meanwhile, is hoping to reach at least a partial ceasefire agreement, a Ukrainian official said in recent days.