U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff met President Vladimir Putin for three hours in Moscow on Friday to discuss the U.S. plan to end the Ukraine war, and the Kremlin said the two sides' positions had moved closer, Reuters reports.
Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov, who took part in the meeting, described it as constructive and very useful.
"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."
Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks since the early weeks of the war, which started in February 2022.
There was no immediate comment from Witkoff.
The real estate billionaire 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.
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.
It came a day after Trump criticised a Russian missile and drone attack on Kyiv that killed at least 12 people, and posted a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin on social media that read: "Vladimir, STOP!"
On Friday, Trump told reporters: "I think Russia and Ukraine, I think they're coming along, we hope."
Trump has also warned both sides, however, that the U.S. will abandon its effort unless there is genuine progress.
