Talks between Russia and the U.S. on ending the nearly four-year conflict in Ukraine were constructive, but much work remains, Yuri Ushakov, a senior adviser to President Vladimir Putin, told reporters on Wednesday.

Putin met U.S. President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner in the Kremlin in talks that began late Tuesday as part of a renewed push by the Trump administration to broker a peace deal.

Both sides agreed not to disclose the substance of the talks.

Ushakov called the five-hour conversation “rather useful, constructive, rather substantive,” but added that the framework of the U.S. peace proposal was discussed rather than “specific wording.”

Asked whether peace was closer or further away after these talks, Ushakov said: “Not further, that’s for sure.”

"But there’s still a lot of work to be done, both in Washington and in Moscow. That’s what’s been agreed upon. And contacts will continue,” the official said.

Putin's aide also said that “so far, a compromise hasn’t been found” on the issue of territories, without which, he said, the Kremlin sees “no resolution to the crisis.”

“Some of the American proposals seem more or less acceptable, but they need to be discussed. Some of the wording that was proposed to us doesn’t suit us. So, the work will continue,” Ushakov said.

There were other points of disagreement, although Ushakov did not provide further details.

The meeting came days after U.S. officials held talks with a Ukrainian team in Florida and which U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio described in cautiously optimistic terms.

At the center of the effort is Trump’s peace plan that became public last month and raised concerns about being tilted heavily toward Moscow.

The proposal granted some of the Kremlin’s core demands that Kyiv has rejected as nonstarters, such as Ukraine ceding the entire eastern region of the Donbas to Russia and renouncing its bid to join NATO.

Negotiators have indicated the framework has changed, but it’s not clear how.

Ushakov said several iterations of a peace plan were being discussed at the talks.

The official refused to go into details, saying only: “At first there was one version, then this version was revised, and instead of one document, a few more appeared.”

On Tuesday, Putin accused Kyiv’s European allies of sabotaging the U.S.-led efforts to end the conflict.

Putin's accusations appeared to be his latest attempt to sow dissension between Trump and European countries and set the stage for exempting Moscow from blame for any lack of progress.

Coinciding with Witkoff’s trip, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy went to Ireland, continuing his visits to European countries that have helped sustain his country’s fight against Russia’s invasion.

AP video shot by Harriet Morris