US-Russia Talks on Ukraine Were ‘Constructive’ but Work Remains, Putin Adviser Says

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, US special envoy Steve Witkoff and US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner, accompanied by Kremlin economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev, are seen prior to a meeting with Russia’s President at the Kremlin in Moscow on December 2, 2025. (Photo by Alexander KAZAKOV / POOL / AFP via Getty Images)

Talks between Russia and the U.S. on ending the nearly four-year war in Ukraine were constructive, but much work remains. Yuri Ushakov, a senior adviser to President Vladimir Putin, spoke to reporters on Wednesday after a lengthy session at the Kremlin. Putin met U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner 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. Putin’s aide says that “so far, a compromise hasn’t been found” on the issue of territories, without which, he said, the Kremlin sees “no resolution to the crisis.”