Ukraine war: Russia says there has been 'substantial progress' in peace talks and 'joint position' could be reached soon.

A Russian delegate involved in the peace negotiations with Ukraine has said the talks have made "substantial progress" and a "joint position" could be reached soon, the state-controlled Russian news agency RIA has reported.

Leonid Lsutsky is said to have made the remark when comparing the state of the talks now with when they first started.

The development comes after Ukrainian negotiator and presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak also said on Sunday that he thought progress could be made in the negotiations in the coming days.

He added that the Russian side had become more constructive.