Russia ready to talk with Ukraine without preconditions

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

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

Ushakov added that 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.