Russia has described the recent meeting with US envoys as “a small step toward peace", while Ukraine said it was planning its "next steps", following the talks.
Speaking at a press briefing on Monday, spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow “truly values” the US negotiators’ peacemaking efforts.
“Certainly, any attempts are more or less effective; it’s one small step toward peace,” Peskov said.
“We truly value the peacemaking efforts of the American negotiators very highly.”
He said Russian President Vladimir Putin personally expressed his high appreciation for US President Donald Trump’s efforts and thanked him for his commitment to a peaceful resolution.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that he and his negotiating team were planning their "next steps", following talks with US and European officials over the weekend.
Zelenskyy did not elaborate on what those steps would be.
"I had a meeting with the (Ukrainian) negotiating team following our talks. We are coordinating our next steps. We are preparing the next meetings and communications," Zelenskyy said in a post on Facebook.
Peskov said Russia “does not rule out” the possibility of resuming trilateral negotiations on Ukraine, stressing “it is too early to talk about timing and location.”
Phone conversation
He also outlined that the Kremlin isn't “ruling out” a phone conversation between Putin and Trump following the US negotiators' trip to Kiev.
He added that the Kremlin does not yet have information about the results of the US envoy's meeting in Kiev.
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Putin in Moscow on Saturday as part of US efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war.
They then travelled to Kiev and met Zelenskyy on Sunday, marking their first visit to Ukraine since the war began.
Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov said the talks lasted three hours and 10 minutes and covered the war in Ukraine as well as potential major Russian-US projects, describing the meeting as “substantive, constructive and extremely frank".
Moscow and Kiev last held peace negotiations under US mediation earlier this year, three rounds in January and February, but were paused due to the war with Iran.
