Russia says it is ready to resume talks with Ukraine and US to end war

Russia is "ready in principle" to resume talks with the US and Ukraine on ending the conflict, Vladimir Putin's top aide has said.Yuri Ushakov was speaking after Putin met US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff in the Russian city of St Petersburg. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky and its European allies have been pressing Moscow for an immediate resumption of the talks suspended in February, and Ushakov said a new round could be held next month, possibly in Abu Dhabi. Russia has for months refused talks as it believes it is winning on the battlefield with Ukraine facing an acute shortage of interceptors against deadly Russian missile attacks.Witkoff went to St Petersburg after meeting Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky as well as the leaders of Norway and Finland on Monday in Oslo. Ushakov said their ideas were not very "useful".Top officials from Russia, Ukraine and the US have held several rounds of talks aimed at ending the war that began in February 2022 when Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The talks, however, were put on hold, with the Kremlin blaming last month's "massive" Ukrainian strikes on Russia during its general elections fo...