US President Donald Trump has said Russia and Ukraine “are very close to a deal”, hours after his envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks in Moscow.
Trump said it had been a “good day” of negotiations, while the Kremlin described the talks – which Ukraine was not present at – as “constructive”.
Earlier, Trump said on social media that “most of the major points are agreed to,” and urged Russia and Ukraine to meet “at very high levels” and “to finish it [the deal] off”.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his video address late on Friday that “real pressure on Russia is needed” to accept an unconditional ceasefire.
Earlier in the day, Zelensky told the BBC that territorial issues between Kyiv and Moscow could be discussed if a “full and unconditional ceasefire” was agreed upon.
Reports suggest Ukraine would be expected to give up large portions of land annexed by Russia under a US peace proposal.
Trump – who spoke to reporters as he arrived in Rome for Saturday’s funeral of Pope Francis – has said he would support Russia keeping the Crimean peninsula, which was illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014. Zelensky rejects this idea.
Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Moscow currently controls almost 20% of Ukrainian territory.
Why Zelensky can’t and won’t give up Crimea
On Friday, traffic was halted in Moscow as a convoy of cars carrying Witkoff arrived ahead of the high-level talks, the fourth such visit he has made to Russia since the start of the year.
The three-hour talks were described as “very useful” by Putin aide Yuri Ushakov.
It had brought the “Russian and US positions closer together, not just on Ukraine but also on a range of other international issues”, he said.
“Specifically on the Ukrainian crisis, the possibility of resuming direct talks between Russian and Ukrainian representatives was in particular discussed,” he added.
AFP US envoy Steve Witkoff and Russian President Vladimir Putin shake hands in the Kremlin.
