US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met Vladimir Putin in Moscow as Washington seeks to revive stalled peace efforts, with both Russia and Ukraine agreeing to temporarily halt strikes on each other’s capitals.
Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner at the Kremlin on Saturday as Washington stepped up efforts to revive negotiations to end the more than four-year Russia-Ukraine war.
The meeting came ahead of the envoys’ expected first visit to Kyiv on Sunday and amid an escalation in Russian and Ukrainian long-range attacks. Moscow and Kyiv separately agreed to refrain from striking each other’s capitals for three days while the diplomatic effort was underway.
US President Donald Trump said earlier that Witkoff and Kushner were travelling with a proposal to end the war and would assess whether meaningful progress towards a settlement was possible.
Welcoming the two envoys at the Kremlin, Putin acknowledged the difficulties surrounding the conflict and asked them to convey his “best wishes and words of gratitude” to Trump.
“The situation is, of course, not simple,” Putin said, according to footage broadcast by Russian state television.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Putin had ordered Russian forces not to strike Kyiv for three days from midnight Saturday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy subsequently said Kyiv would similarly refrain from attacks on Moscow through Monday.
“From now through the end of Saturday, as well as on Sunday and Monday, Ukraine is ready to refrain from strikes on Moscow,” Zelenskyy said.
Witkoff, Kushner set for first Kyiv visit
The planned Kyiv trip would mark the first visit by Witkoff and Kushner to the Ukrainian capital since Trump returned to the White House, pledging to bring the war to an end.
Ukrainian officials said the envoys were expected in Kyiv on Sunday. Their possible arrival by US aircraft would be unusual because Ukrainian airspace has remained closed to civilian flights since Russia’s attack in February 2022. Foreign leaders and senior officials travelling to Kyiv have generally used trains.
The visit comes as the US-led peace initiative has struggled to gain momentum, with Washington’s attention also consumed by its military conflict with Iran. Meanwhile, Moscow and Kyiv have intensified attacks, contributing to a rise in civilian casualties.
Trump said Witkoff and Kushner would determine whether a deal could be reached but did not disclose whether their proposal required Ukraine to surrender territory.
“We have an idea for peace,” Trump said, while describing the two men as “great negotiators.”
Both envoys have previously participated in US diplomatic efforts involving Moscow and have played roles in negotiations over ceasefires in Gaza and Iran.
Russian strikes intensify as diplomacy resumes
The latest diplomatic push has unfolded against a backdrop of increasingly heavy attacks.
Zelenskyy accused Russia of attempting to disrupt the US delegation’s visit after overnight strikes hit the Kyiv area, including the capital’s two airports. He also linked Russian attacks in the Dnipropetrovsk region to the diplomatic preparations.
“Clearly, these Russian strikes on the airports are a reaction to the discussions and preparations for the possibility of the US side using an aircraft to travel to Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said.
At least seven people were killed in Russian attacks across Ukraine on Saturday, according to Ukrainian officials. Two people were killed in the Bucha district outside Kyiv, while another Russian strike in Kamianske in the Dnipropetrovsk region killed five people and wounded five others.
The attacks followed a Russian drone strike on the headquarters of Ukraine’s Security Service, or SBU, in central Kyiv on Friday. Zelenskyy said the strike targeted the office of the agency’s acting chief.
However, Putin has ordered a three-day halt to Russian strikes on Kyiv on Saturday for a fresh diplomatic push to end the war, the Kremlin said.
The renewed US diplomatic effort also follows a rare Moscow visit by CIA Director John Ratcliffe last month, adding to signs of continued high-level contacts between Washington and the Kremlin despite the lack of a breakthrough in peace negotiations.
With inputs from agencies
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