Putin’s aide says

A senior adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin said there is still “a lot of work to do” after President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and US special envoy Steve Witkoff met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday, amid a push by Trump to end the war in ukraine.

The meeting lasted about five hours and came immediately after talks between U.S. and Ukrainian officials. in Florida over the weekend.

Yuri Ushakov, a senior Putin official, told reporters after Tuesday’s meeting that the talks were “constructive, very useful and substantive,” but said no agreement was reached on persistent territorial problems in Ukraine.

“The territorial question, naturally, is the most important for us and also for the Americans. A compromise option has not yet been found, but some American developments seem more or less acceptable, but they need to be discussed,” he said. “Some of the formulations that were proposed to us seem acceptable to us.”

“We are no closer to resolving the crisis in Ukraine and there is still a lot of work to be done,” Ushakov said.

Ushakov said that Moscow was given four more documents in addition to the original 28 point plan that the Trump administration presented last month, but did not elaborate on the contents of those documents.

Ushakov said both Russia and the United States agreed not to reveal specific details of the talks. Direct talks between Putin and Trump are currently not planned, but Putin asked Witkoff and Kushner to convey “important political signals” to Trump, Ushakov said.

Witkoff and Kushner will return to the United States to discuss the meeting with Trump and then will reconnect with Russian officials by phone, Ushakov said.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who participated in the weekend talks. with Ukrainian officials in Floridapreviously said the talks were “another very productive session” but “there are a lot of moving parts.”

Trump had told reporters after Sunday’s talks: “I think there’s a good chance we can reach a deal.”

The original US-backed project peace proposal to end Russia’s war against Ukraine that was unveiled last month has undergone changes after some criticized the initial plan for being too pro-Russia, Trump told reporters over the weekend. One provision that drew strong pushback from U.S. and European officials called for Ukraine to cede to Russia the territory it currently controls in Donetsk.

“They’re making concessions,” Trump said of the Russians. “These are big concessions. They stop fighting and don’t take any more land.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at a news conference on Tuesday that the plan had been narrowed to 20 points following talks in Geneva and Florida. He later said on the social media platform Telegram that Ukraine would “await signals from the American delegation after their meetings in Russia.”

“We will receive certain signals. If the signals work, if it is fair play with our partners, then perhaps we will meet with the American delegation very soon,” he said, adding: “I am ready to meet with President Trump. It all depends on today’s talks.”

Putin has previously called the proposals a “set of issues presented for discussion” rather than a firm draft agreement.

Last week, a US official told News themezone that Ukraine had “agreed to a peace deal”, and Ukrainian national security official and adviser Rustem Umerov said a common understanding had been reached on a proposal, with details still to be worked out.

Trump expressed optimism about the development and said only “a few points of disagreement” remained. Moscow, however, He said it was “premature” say that the two sides were close to a peace agreement.