for a deal to end the war in Ukraine. The visit, which was confirmed by Vladimir Putin's close foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov on Wednesday, comes after Ukraine said it had reached a "common understanding" with the White House on the outline of a potential peace deal. On Tuesday, Trump said he had tasked Witkoff to meet the Russian president, while the US Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll was being sent to Ukraine. It follows the emergence last week of a 28-point draft plan, which the US president said had since been "fine-tuned, with additional input from both sides".

Speaking to reporters before the Kremlin confirmed the visit, Trump said his son-in-law Jared Kushner - who has acted as an adviser to the White House during previous diplomatic talks - may also attend the Kremlin meeting. He said an agreement would involve land concessions "both ways" and "trying to clean up the border".

The president, who has made securing a deal to end the conflict a key foreign policy goal, said he had not given either side a date to agree a deal by, saying "the deadline for me is when it's over". The Kremlin previously said that Russia had not yet been consulted on the new draft deal, warning it may not accept amendments to last week's plan. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that while Moscow had been in favour of the initial US framework, the situation would be "fundamentally different" if it had undergone substantial changes. (BBC)