India, March 24 -- A day after wrapping up "productive and focused" talks with Ukraine, officials from the United States on Monday sat down with the Russian side in Saudi Arabia, aiming to make progress towards a broad ceasefire in Kyiv.

Washington is aiming to achieve a Black Sea ceasefire deal before securing the wider agreement.

The talks come in the backdrop of US President Donald Trump's intensified drive to achieve an end to the three-year-long war. Last week, he spoke to both his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin as well as Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky, which resulted in an agreement on a 30-day halt to attacks on energy infrastructure.

A report from Reuters cited sources and said that the US side was being led by White House n...