US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner arrived in Moscow carrying what Trump described as a proposal to end the war. Their first visit to Kyiv is planned for Sunday. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov announced that Putin had ordered a three-day pause in strikes on Kyiv for the visit. Zelenskyy linked overnight airport strikes to preparations for the delegation potentially arriving by air.
US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner landed at Moscow’s Vnukovo airport on Saturday, where Russian diplomat Kirill Dmitriev greeted them. Trump had told reporters on Friday that they were carrying a proposal aimed at ending the war. The itinerary includes separate meetings with Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky. The envoys are due to travel to Kyiv on Sunday; neither has previously visited the Ukrainian capital.[1], [2]
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov announced that Putin had ordered a three-day halt to strikes on Kyiv starting at midnight. He linked the order to preparations for the US envoys’ planned visit to the Ukrainian capital. Peskov also confirmed they would meet Putin but said there was no talk of new ideas to end the conflict. Volodymyr Zelenskyy had said Friday that Ukraine would halt airstrikes during the visit and urged Moscow to do the same.[2]
On Saturday, Zelensky linked overnight Russian strikes on Kyiv and Boryspil airports to preparations for the American delegation potentially flying to Ukraine. Ukrainian airspace has been closed since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022. Flight-tracking data showed that the US government aircraft landing in Moscow had come from Helsinki. The trip follows CIA director John Ratcliffe’s Moscow visit just over a week earlier.[1], [2]
