The Kremlin said contacts between the U.S. and Russia had taken place, the first time Moscow has hinted the two countries are discussing a potential plan to end fighting in Ukraine.

Ukraine was prepared to engage in negotiations to end its nearly three-year-old war with Russia, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said, but he stressed that the United States and Europe also had to take part in any talks.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Thursday that the United States needed to formulate its policy on ending the conflict in Ukraine and that Moscow could then base its own position on specific U.S.