U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin held their fourth meeting on Friday to discuss the possibility of "direct" negotiations between Moscow and Kyiv, with the Kremlin describing the talks as "constructive."
"There was a three-hour conversation that was constructive and very useful," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters, adding that "there was a discussion on the possibility of renewing direct negotiations between representatives of the Russian Federation and Ukraine."
"This conversation allowed Russia and the United States to further bring their positions closer together, not only on Ukraine but also on a number of other international issues," he told reporters.
"As for the Ukrainian crisis itself, the discussion focused in particular on the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between representatives of the Russian Federation and Ukraine."
There was no immediate comment from Witkoff on the outcome of the meeting.
Witkoff has emerged as Washington's key interlocutor with Putin as Trump pushes for a deal to end the war, now well into its fourth year, and has already had three long meetings with the Kremlin leader.
His latest trip follows talks this week at which Ukrainian and European officials pushed back against some of the U.S. proposals for how to settle the conflict, the deadliest in Europe since World War Two.
