U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy, Steve Witkoff, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin for three hours in Moscow on Friday to discuss a U.S. plan to end the Ukraine crisis. Trump said afterward that the two sides were "very close to a deal," despite clear differences in their positions.

In a social media post following the meeting, Trump described it as a good day of talks and called for a high-level meeting between Kyiv and Moscow to finalize an agreement.

Russia and Ukraine have not held direct talks since the early weeks of the conflict, which began in February 2022.

Kremlin foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov, who took part in Friday's talks and briefed reporters, called the meeting constructive and very useful.

"This conversation allowed Russia and the United States to further bring their positions closer together, not only on Ukraine but also on a number of other international issues," he said. "As for the Ukrainian crisis itself, the discussion focused in particular on the possibility of resuming direct negotiations between representatives of the Russian Federation and Ukraine."

There was no immediate comment from Witkoff. His latest visit follows earlier talks this week during which Ukrainian and European officials reportedly pushed back against some of Washington's proposals for resolving the conflict.

The U.S. peace proposal presented by Witkoff reportedly includes formal American recognition of Russia's control over Crimea and de facto recognition of Russian control over areas of southern and eastern Ukraine currently occupied by its forces.

By contrast, a European and Ukrainian document seen by Reuters defers discussion of territorial issues until after a ceasefire, and makes no mention of recognizing Russian control over any Ukrainian territory.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has publicly refused to recognize Crimea as part of Russia, saying that doing so would violate Ukraine's Constitution.

There are also differences over the lifting of sanctions on Russia, the shape of security guarantees for Ukraine and the future size of Ukraine's armed forces.

The Trump administration has warned that the U.S. will walk away from negotiations unless there is genuine progress.

(With input from Reuters)