Kremlin says Russia is encouraged by talks with US, ready to engage further

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MOSCOW, Dec 5 (Reuters) – The Kremlin said on Friday that Russia and the United States were making progress in peace talks on Ukraine and that Moscow was ready to continue working with the current U.S. team.

President Vladimir Putin held five hours of talks with two U.S. envoys on Tuesday night, at which the Kremlin has said he accepted some elements, but not others, of a U.S.-drafted peace plan.

Putin subsequently restated Russia’s demand for full control over Ukraine’s Donbas region, saying Moscow would take the region by force unless Ukrainian troops withdrew.

U.S. President Donald Trump, whose efforts to end the war have so far failed to produce a breakthrough, has said this week’s meeting was “reasonably good” but that the path ahead remained unclear.

Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov, who took part in Tuesday’s talks, told the Zvezda news outlet on Friday: “We are, in my opinion, making progress on the main negotiations involving our president. This is encouraging, and we are ready to continue working with this American team.”

State news agency RIA quoted Ushakov as saying the Kremlin was awaiting “the reaction of our American colleagues” to Tuesday’s talks.

Ukraine wants an immediate ceasefire and accuses Putin of feigning interest in peace talks while pressing on with the war. At the same time, Kyiv is fearful that Trump and Putin could clinch a deal that would force it to accept deeply unfavourable terms and leave it vulnerable to a new attack by Russia in the future.

Ukraine wants “real peace, not appeasement” with Russia, its foreign minister said on Thursday.

Russia says it is serious about seeking an end to the war but will achieve its goals by military means if it can’t achieve them through diplomacy.

(Reporting by Reuters, writing by Mark Trevelyan, editing by Gareth Jones )