Zürcher Nachrichten - US envoy Witkoff, Putin discuss 'possibility' of direct Russia-Ukraine talks

Donald Trump is pushing for a ceasefire in the three-year conflict but has so far been unable to extract any meaningful concessions from Putin.

Witkoff held a three-hour meeting with the Russian leader in the Kremlin, Moscow said, a day after a Russian strike killed 12 people in Kyiv and as a car bomb killed a Russian general in an attack the Kremlin blamed on Ukraine.

"There was a discussion on the possibility of renewing direct negotiations between representatives of the Russian Federation and Ukraine," Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said after he talks.

He called the conversation "constructive and very useful."

Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks on halting the fighting since the start of Moscow's 2022 offensive.

Lower-level officials have cooperated in areas such as prisoner exchanges, the return of dead soldiers' remains and to strike the now-defunct Black Sea grain deal in 2022.

Moscow's offensive, launched in February 2022, has devastated swathes of eastern Ukraine and killed tens of thousands.

In its push to end the conflict -- which has so far yielded few results and frustrated Trump -- the United States is holding talks with both sides separately.

Ushakov said the meeting brought the US and Russian positions on Ukraine "closer together".

Kyiv and its European allies fear Moscow and Washington will strike an unfair deal for Ukraine.

Witkoff, a billionaire real estate investor and one of Trump's most trusted aides, is playing a key role in Washington's peace efforts, though has made several comments that have infuriated Ukraine.

- 'Vladimir, STOP' -

Trump has threatened to walk away from talks if he does not see progress towards a ceasefire.

On Thursday, after Russian attacks on Kyiv killed 12 people, Trump wrote on social media: "Vladimir, STOP!", adding "Lets get the Peace Deal DONE!"

When asked how he would respond if Russia did not accept a deal, Trump said Thursday: "I won't be happy, let me put it that way. Things will happen."

As Witkoff visited Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told US media CBS that Moscow was "ready to reach a deal" but that unnamed details needed to be addressed.

"There are still some specific points... which need to be fine-tuned, and we are busy with this," Lavrov said.

The United States has not revealed the details of its peace plan but has suggested freezing the front line and accepting Russian control of Crimea -- a peninsula annexed by the Kremlin in 2014 -- in exchange for peace.

Trump was quoted as saying in a TIME magazine interview published on Friday: "Crimea will stay with Russia. And Zelensky understands that."

Ukraine has rejected ceding ground to Moscow, and says it will not accept Russian control of Crimea.

But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has in recent months accepted that he might have to try to secure the return of some land captured by Russia through diplomacy once a ceasefire is in place.

Zelensky has expressed frustration at a lack of Western "pressure" on Putin, despite the United States warning of repercussions if Moscow refused a deal.

On Friday, he said that a North Korean-supplied missile fired by Russia on Kyiv the day before contained dozens of components from US firms.

"Any country that becomes a victim of aggression is never defending itself against a single entity but against a group of accomplices," he said.

- 'Five territories' -

Putin last month rejected a US proposal of a full and unconditional ceasefire that Zelensky has accepted and repeatedly called for since.

Trump, who has been accused of favouring Russia and has repeatedly vilified Zelensky, said Thursday that the main concession Russia would make in any peace deal was "stopping taking the whole country".

Moscow currently occupies around 20 percent of Ukraine and in addition to Crimea has attempted to annex four other Ukrainian regions.

Witkoff told Fox News earlier this month that a peace settlement hinged on the status of the "so-called five territories", drawing a sharp rebuke from Zelensky, who accused the US envoy of "spreading Russian narratives".

Russia blamed Ukrainian security services, who are believed to be behind a string of mysterious high-profile assassinations in Russia during Moscow's offensive.

O.Pereira--NZN