U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff met President Vladimir Putin for three hours in Moscow on Friday to discuss the U.S. plan to end the Ukraine war, and the Kremlin said the two sides' positions had moved closer.

The killing of Lieutenant General Yaroslav Moskalik follows that of another senior Russian military figure in December.

US President Donald Trump said Russia and Ukraine are “very close to a deal” that would end their three-year war, after his envoy met with President Vladimir Putin on Friday in talks Moscow said were “constructive and very useful.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia ordered a three-day unilateral cease-fire in Ukraine next week, the Kremlin said on Monday, soon after President Trump reiterated his frustration with Russia’s refusal to stop the war.

Ceasefire, Ukraine Wants Truce Now MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday declared a three-day ceasefire in May in the war with Ukraine to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies in World War Two.

President Trump "wants to see a permanent ceasefire first, to stop the killing, stop the bloodshed," press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.