US President Donald Trump said he expects a US-Ukraine revenue-sharing agreement on Ukrainian critical minerals will be signed soon.
Mr Trump also told reporters as he met his Cabinet that the United States is talking to Ukraine about the potential for American firms owning Ukrainian power plants.
A US delegation met with Ukrainian officials yesterday and with Russian officials today in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The talks have focused mostly on a Black Sea ceasefire, but Mr Trump said other issues are coming up as he pushes for a halt to Russia's three-year war against Ukraine.
"We're talking about territory right now. We're talking about lines of demarcation, talking about power, power plant ownership.
"Some people are saying the United States should own the power plant...because we have the expertise," he said.
Russia, US negotiations focused on Black Sea ceasefire
The US and Russian teams met behind closed doors at a hotel the Saudi capital with a possible revival of a 2022 Black Sea ceasefire proposal on the table.
Negotiations between the two teams are focused on technical issues, including the Black Sea Initiative, which is about the security of shipping in the region, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
The Ukrainian team is expecting a second meeting with the US today, a source in Ukraine said, a sign that progress may have been made.
Mr Trump is pressing for a rapid end to the three-year war and hopes the latest round of talks in Riyadh could pave the way for a breakthrough.
The Kremlin said that Russia and the US have a common understanding on the need to move towards a settlement to end the war in Ukraine but that there are still many different aspects that need to be worked out.
Earlier this month in Jeddah - days after President Volodymyr Zelensky's White House public argument with Donald Trump - Ukraine agreed to a US-proposed 30-day ceasefire that was then rejected by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Officials are now studying a possible resumption of the Black Sea Initiative, a year-long agreement that allowed millions of tonnes of grain and other food exports to be shipped from Ukraine's ports.
"The issue of the Black Sea Initiative and all aspects related to the renewal of this initiative is on the agenda today," Mr Peskov said in his daily briefing.
"This was President Trump's proposal and President Putin agreed to it. It was with this mandate that our delegation travelled to Riyadh," he added.
The two sets of talks were originally planned to take place simultaneously to enable shuttle diplomacy, with the United States going back and forth between the delegations.
The US team is being led by Andrew Peek, a senior director at the White House National Security Council, and senior State Department official Michael Anton, a source familiar with the matter said.
Ukraine's Defence Minister Rustem Umerov, who heads the Ukrainian team, said the first round of talks that finished late yesterday were "productive and focused".
"We addressed key points including energy," Mr Umerov said on social media.
Mr Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff has voiced optimism that any agreement struck would pave the way for a "full-on" ceasefire.
"I think you're going to see in Saudi Arabia on Monday some real progress, particularly as it affects a Black Sea ceasefire on ships between both countries and from that you'll naturally gravitate to a full-on shooting ceasefire," he told Fox News.
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'Only at the beginning', says Russia
But Russia has downplayed expectations of a rapid resolution.
"We are only at the beginning of this path," Mr Peskov told Russian state TV yesterday, adding: "There are difficult negotiations ahead."
Mr Putin rebuffed the joint US-Ukrainian call for a full and immediate 30-day pause, proposing instead a halt in attacks on energy facilities.
Russia pulled out of the Black Sea Initiative - brokered by Turkey and the United Nations in 2023 - accusing the West of failing to uphold its commitments to ease sanctions on Russia's own exports of farm produce and fertilisers.
A senior Ukrainian official previously said that Ukraine would propose a broader ceasefire, covering attacks on energy facilities, infrastructure and naval strikes.
Both sides launched fresh drone attacks on the eve of the negotiations.
Deadly Russian attack targets Kyiv
Ukrainian officials said a Russian drone attack overnight on Saturday killed three civilians in Kyiv, including a five-year-old girl and her father.
Reporters in the capital saw emergency workers treating the wounded early yesterday in front of damaged residential buildings hit in the strike.
Deadly strikes on the well protected city are rarer than elsewhere in the country.
Russia heads into the Saudi talks after a rapprochement with the US under Mr Trump that has boosted confidence in the Kremlin.
Mr Peskov said yesterday that the "potential for mutually beneficial cooperation in a wide variety of spheres between our countries cannot be overstated".
"We may disagree on some things but that does not mean we should deprive ourselves of mutual benefit," he added.
