Russian President Vladimir Putin began a meeting with three US envoys later yesterday to discuss a plan to end the war in Ukraine, the Kremlin said.
Americans Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner were accompanied by Josh Gruenbaum.
Putin greeted the Americans shortly before midnight in Moscow after Trump said a deal was “reasonably close” and Witkoff said negotiations had come down to one last issue.
The Kremlin said Putin was joined, as at previous meetings with the US side, by his foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov and special envoy Kirill Dmitriev.
Trump on Wednesday that Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy would be “stupid” if they failed to come together and get a deal done.
Witkoff did not name the main outstanding problem, but all sides have previously highlighted the issue of territory.
In particular, Putin has demanded that Ukraine surrender the 20 per cent it still holds of the eastern region of Donetsk.
Zelenskiy has refused to give up land that Ukraine has successfully defended at great cost through years of grinding, attritional warfare.
Russia also demands that Ukraine renounce its ambition to join Nato, and rejects any presence of Nato troops on Ukrainian soil following a peace deal.
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