Putin says Russia ready to talk with Ukraine 'without preconditions': Kremlin

MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed Russia's readiness to negotiate with Ukraine without preconditions during his earlier talk with US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Saturday.

"During yesterday's talks with Trump's envoy Witkoff, Vladimir Putin reiterated that Russia is ready to resume negotiations with Ukraine without any preconditions," Peskov said, adding that Putin has spoken about it repeatedly.

Putin and Witkoff discussed the possibility of direct Russia-Ukraine talks during their meeting in Moscow, Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov said Friday.

Ushakov said the talks focused on the possibility of restarting direct negotiations between representatives from Russia and Ukraine, and the meeting helped to further align the positions of Russia and the United States, both on Ukraine and on other international issues.