Moscow, 3 December 2025 (dpa/MIA) - Special Envoy Steve Witkoff was set to return to the United States to brief President Donald Trump on his Tuesday talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov told Russian media after the roughly five-hour meeting.

Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law, also attended the meeting, aimed at discussing plans for a possible end to Russia's war in Ukraine.

Ushakov spoke of constructive, substantive and useful discussions. He said that after the talks, the sides were no further from peace but also no closer to a solution to the conflict.

"There is still a lot of work to be done," Russian state news agency TASS cited Ushakov as saying, with communication between Moscow and Washington set to continue.

The Kremlin aide said there was still no compromise on the issue of Russia's demand for the cession of Ukrainian territories.

Putin insists that Ukraine must surrender the eastern Donbass region in order to achieve peace, including areas that Russian forces have failed to seize in more than three and a half years of war. Kiev categorically rejects the position.

A 28-point US peace plan was made public at the end of November. However, it has undergone changes in recent days because many of the initial proposals were unacceptable to Ukraine and the European Union. Most recently, the US and Ukraine had been working on the plan bilaterally.

Photo: MIA archive