Trump's special envoy, Putin holds talks on Russia-Ukraine crisis

On Friday, Putin was shown on state TV, as per Al Jazeera, greeting Witkoff in Saint Petersburg's presidential library at the start of the negotiations, and their talks lasted more than four hours.

The Kremlin said the meeting "focused on various aspects of the Ukrainian settlement", without elaborating.

Earlier, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Putin and Witkoff might discuss the possibility of the Russian leader meeting Trump face-to-face.

According to Al Jazeera, Witkoff is now a key figure in the on-off tete-a-tete between Moscow and Washington amid talk on the Russian side of potential joint investments in the Arctic and Russian rare earth minerals.

The talks come as the US continues efforts to broker a ceasefire deal to end the conflict, which has stalled amid negotiations on the conditions of the deal.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Friday (local time) confirmed that US special envoy Steve Witkoff is currently in Russia to hold direct talks with the Kremlin and Russian President Vladimir Putin as part of the ongoing efforts towards a ceasefire deal for the Ukraine conflict.

During a press briefing, Leavitt stated that it was a step towards the negotiating process for the ceasefire as well as an "ultimate peace deal."

She added that US President Donald Trump has been "continually frustrated with both sides of this conflict," indicating the administration's intent to take a more active role in peace negotiations.

Putin and Trump have spoken by phone but have yet to meet in person since the US leader returned to the White House in January for a second four-year term.

Trump has been pressing Moscow and Kyiv to agree on a ceasefire deal but has failed to extract any major concessions from the Kremlin, despite several rounds of talks between Russian and US officials.