Witkoff meets Putin as Trump urges Russia to 'get moving' on Ukraine ceasefire

Steve Witkoff held talks with the Russian president, meanwhile Moscow's ambassador to the UK told the BBC the US is not Russia's ally.

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The Kremlin said the meeting lasted for more than four hours and focused on "aspects of a Ukrainian settlement". The meeting, Witkoff's third with Putin this year, was described by special envoy Kirill Dmitriev as "productive".

Trump, the US president, has expressed frustration over the progress of talks. On Friday, he wrote: "Russia has to get moving. Too many people ere [sic] DYING, thousands a week, in a terrible and senseless war."

It comes as Trump's Ukraine envoy Keith Kellogg denied suggesting the country could be partitioned.

The Times earlier reported that, during an interview with the paper, Kellogg had proposed British and French troops could adopt zones of control in the west of Ukraine as part of a "reassurance force".