Moscow (AFP) - Russia said Wednesday that ongoing talks to end the war in Ukraine were “serious”, after earlier welcoming parts of a new US plan to halt the deadliest fighting in Europe since World War II.

A deal was still a long way off, Russian officials warned, with US President Donald Trump’s envoy Steve Witkoff due in Moscow next week for further talks.

But the negotiations were “ongoing, the process is serious,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in televised comments.

Washington has not published its new plan, which Trump has called a “fine-tuned” update of a previous 28-point proposal firmly rejected by an alarmed Kyiv and its European allies for being, they said, a Kremlin wish-list.

Trump and US Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, who has been in talks with Russian delegates this week, have also expressed cautious optimism over the revised version.

Ukrainian officials have said Driscoll is due for further talks in Kyiv this week.

It is not clear how similar the new plan is to the earlier proposal, but an official familiar with the matter told AFP the new draft had fewer points and left sensitive issues concerning territory – a key point for both Russia and Ukraine – unresolved.

In comments to a Russian state TV reporter, Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov said the draft required “truly serious analysis” and that Russia had not yet discussed it with anyone.

“Some aspects can be viewed positively, but many require special discussions among experts,” he said.

The original plan – drafted without input from Ukraine’s European allies – would have seen Kyiv withdraw from its eastern Donetsk region and the United States de facto recognise the Donetsk, Crimea and Lugansk regions as Russian.

It ignited a storm of criticism, with Washington forced to deny claims it was just a Russian “wish list”, throwing an extraordinary element of confusion into the talks.

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky framed it as one of the most difficult choices in Ukrainian history: “either the loss of dignity or the risk of losing a key partner” in Washington.

The updated plan appears to please Kyiv more. Ukraine said later it had reached an “understanding” with the United States, and that the two sides had pared back some of the points Kyiv disagreed with following talks in Geneva.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the full-scale military assault on Ukraine in February 2022 – calling it a “special military operation”.

Kyiv and its European allies say the war is an unprovoked and illegal land grab that has resulted in a tidal wave of violence and destruction.

Tens of thousands of civilians and military personnel have been killed since the war began, while millions of Ukrainians have been forced to leave their homes.

- Key sticking points -

US officials were upbeat Tuesday about the drive to end the war, even as they acknowledged key sticking points remained over the plan.

But the Kremlin cautioned Wednesday it was “too early” to say if a deal was close.

Ukraine’s European allies had drafted their own counter-proposal to the original plan, which Russia immediately smacked down, accusing them of “meddling” in the peace process.

EU Commission Chief Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday that days of negotiations to refine the US plan had begun to lay the groundwork for a possible settlement.

But she warned Russia showed no sign of really wanting to stop the fighting.

“I want to be clear from the very outset: Europe will stand with Ukraine and support Ukraine every step of the way,” she told EU lawmakers.

As diplomatic efforts to end the war rumbled on, Ukraine on Wednesday reported another night of air attacks.

A Russian drone attack on the southern Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia overnight left more than a dozen wounded and damaged tens of homes, governor Ivan Fedorov said.