Talks on war high on agenda

NEW YORK, Dec 04 (BBC/AFP): US special envoy Steve Witkoff was set to meet the head of Ukraine's national security council, Rustem Umerov, for talks in Miami on Thursday, the White House has confirmed.

Witkoff spent almost five hours with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Tuesday in negotiations which the Kremlin said produced "no compromise" on ending the war in Ukraine.

US President Donald Trump said the talks were "reasonably good", but it was too soon to say what would happen as "it does take two to tango."

Putin later said reaching a consensus would not be an "easy task", reportedly highlighting Moscow's repeated demand that Ukrainian troops withdraw from the Donbas region - an area occupied by Russian forces.

On Thursday, Russian state media reported Putin as saying: "It all comes down to this. Either we liberate these territories by force of arms or Ukrainian troops will leave these territories and stop fighting there."

State media said Putin's comments were made during an interview with news outlet India Today, which came ahead of the Russian president's two-day visit to the country.

Wednesday's talks in Moscow were also attended by Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron - who is visiting Beijing - has urged China's president Xi Jinping to play a part in securing a ceasefire in Ukraine.

Kyiv and its European partners believe that, even in the event of a peace deal, the most effective way to deter Russia from attacking again in the future would be to grant Ukraine membership of Nato.

Russia is vehemently opposed to such a proposal, and Trump too has repeatedly signalled he has no intention of letting Kyiv into the alliance. The prospect of Ukraine joining Nato was a "key question" that was tackled in Moscow, the Kremlin said on Wednesday.

The prospect of Ukraine joining NATO was a "key question" in US-Russia talks in Moscow, the Kremlin said on Wednesday after negotiations with US envoys brought no sign of a breakthrough.

Membership in the alliance is one of the stumbling blocks in US-led efforts to end the four-year war -- a conflict that US President Donald Trump had pledged to settle within a day of returning to office.

Kyiv views membership in NATO as a bulwark against a future Russian assault, while Russian President Vladimir Putin mentioned the expansion of NATO as one of the reasons for sending troops to Ukraine.

The topic was "one of the key questions, it was discussed," between Putin, US envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner, top Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said.

"The American partners have confirmed their readiness to take into account our considerations and our key proposals," Ushakov told journalists, including from AFP, during a briefing.

Trump has repeatedly ruled out Ukraine's NATO membership, and his latest 28-point plan, which critics said was a Russian wish list, explicitly stated that Kyiv would never be admitted to the alliance.

The plan was later amended by Ukraine and Europe, but Moscow appeared to reject it at the meeting on Tuesday.

NATO chief Mark Rutte on Wednesday said that the door remained open for Kyiv's membership, but added that currently "there is no consensus on Ukraine joining NATO".