Kremlin: Putin to meet US envoy Witkoff Tuesday afternoon

• Russian President Vladimir Putin is scheduled to hold talks on Ukraine with US Envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Tuesday afternoon.
• The meeting follows criticism that the initial US peace plan heeded too closely to Moscow's maximalist demands, including the surrender of Ukrainian territory.

Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold talks on Ukraine with US envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Tuesday afternoon, the Kremlin said.

The pair will meet after American and Ukrainian officials held negotiations on a US plan that Washington wants to be a basis to end fighting between Moscow and Kyiv.

"The meeting with Witkoff is planned for tomorrow," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, including from AFP, in a briefing on Monday, adding that it will take place "in the second half of the day."

Putin last week repeated his maximalist demands for Moscow to drop its offensive: for Kyiv to surrender territories Moscow claims as its own, saying his army will take them by force otherwise.

Witkoff has met Putin in the Kremlin several times.

The US official has faced criticism for his approach in talks with Moscow, with an initial US plan to end the war widely seen as heeding to much of the Kremlin's demands.

The EU has said the coming week could be "pivotal" for Ukraine.

Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky was in Paris on Monday, seeking to boost European support for Kyiv, while US President Donald Trump expressed optimism for a potential deal to end almost four years of war.