MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin told US special envoy Steve Witkoff on Friday that Moscow was ready for talks with Kyiv without preconditions, Interfax news agency reported, citing Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Witkoff met Putin for three hours in Moscow to discuss the US plan to end the war in Ukraine, and Trump said the two sides were `very close to a deal`, despite apparent differences in their positions.-Reuters