US and Russia in Black Sea ceasefire talks

US AND RUSSIAN officials held talks in Saudi Arabia on Monday aimed at sealing a Black Sea maritime ceasefire deal before a wider ceasefire agreement in Ukraine as Moscow and Kyiv used drones to pound each other.

- REUTERS

The talks, which followed US negotiations with Ukraine in Saudi Arabia on Sunday, came after Russia launched its third consecutive overnight air attack on Kyiv, wounding one person and damaging houses in the region around the Ukrainian capital.

Russia, for its part, said it had downed 227 Ukrainian drones in the last 24 hours, as firefighters in its southern Krasnodar region battled for a fifth day to put out a blaze at an oil depot struck in a Ukrainian drone attack last week.