US–Russia talks on Ukraine ‘productive’ but major gaps remain: Kremlin adviser

Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov said US–Russia talks on ending the nearly four-year Ukraine war were “productive,” though substantial work remains. Putin met US envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner as Washington pushes a peace deal amid concerns over Trump’s earlier proposal favouring Moscow.

Moscow: Talks between Russia and the US on ending the nearly four-year war in Ukraine were productive, but much work remains, Yuri Ushakov, a senior adviser to President Vladimir Putin, told reporters on Wednesday.

Putin met US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner in the Kremlin in talks that began late Tuesday as part of a renewed push by the Trump administration to broker a peace deal. Both sides agreed not to disclose the substance of the talks.

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The meeting came days after US officials held talks with a Ukrainian team in Florida and which US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described in cautiously optimistic terms.

At the centre of the effort is Trump’s peace plan that became public last month and raised concerns about being tilted heavily toward Moscow. The proposal granted some of the Kremlin’s core demands that Kyiv has rejected as nonstarters, such as Ukraine ceding the entire eastern region of the Donbas to Russia and renouncing its bid to join NATO. Negotiators have indicated the framework has changed, but it’s not clear how.