File Photo: U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff, right, Russian presidential foreign policy adviser Yuri Ushakov, left, Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO Kirill Dmitriev, second right, and Jared Kushner, President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, arrive for meetings in Moscow. AP
The talks follow Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's praise for progress during two days of meetings in Berlin between Kyiv and Trump's envoys, while warning that Moscow is preparing for a "new year of war."
Trump's roving envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected to take part on the US side, while Putin's economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev is set to be in the Russian delegation, Politico reported.
The White House official did not give details of the US and Russian teams.
There has been a flurry of international diplomacy in recent weeks to end Russia's nearly four-year-old invasion, with Witkoff and Kushner having met Putin in the Kremlin in November and the Ukrainians and European leaders in Berlin.
But large differences remain all around.
Ukraine and the United States claim progress has been made on the issue of future security guarantees for Kyiv, but disagreements persist over the territory that Ukraine would have to cede.
Putin meanwhile said on Wednesday that Moscow would "certainly" achieve its objectives in the war, including seizing the territories it claims are its own.
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